


love to remember

by rickstheraven



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Amnesia, Angst, F/M, Fluff and Angst, amnesia!archie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-19
Updated: 2018-08-02
Packaged: 2019-04-25 01:47:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 72,251
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14368254
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rickstheraven/pseuds/rickstheraven
Summary: Everything around them turns dark and suddenly, they were floating in a complete different river. She gets up from his lap and look around, her stomach dropping once she realized they were in Sweetwater River. Didn’t someone important to her nearly died around here? She can’t remember. She hears a splash and whips around to see him drowning. She screams and extends out her hand to help, but the boat is moving out of his reach.“Help me!” he struggles.“I’m trying!”“Say that you love me as well!”“What?”“Too late.”ORVeronica has to deal with an amnesia Archie, but also the miserable past she's keeping from him and her father's secrets





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Heloooo guys, this is my first fic, and it starts around post 2x08. so yea break up angst at the beginning and everything, so don't hate me for it lol. Hope you like it and tell me what you think in the comments down below.

_She shifts herself to a more comfortable position is his embrace, laying her head across his chest as her hand travels, fingers tracing his abs, feeling his smile as he presses his lips against her head. Her heart beats faster at the thought that they're still naked in bed, and she never ceases to wonder why she gets turned on by him every time they do it, no matter how many times they do it. She feels like she explores a new him everyday_

_“I love you”, he whispers._

_She looks up at him, ready to reply but he opens his mouth again, this time pushing her out of his arms._

_“You couldn’t tell me last time as well!”, he accuses her._

_“What, wait, I haven’t said anything yet!”, she replies._

_He shakes his head, “You had so many chances, but you should wake up. We're landing.”_

_“What?”_

_Everything blacks out, including his beautiful face, framed by his red hair._

“Please fasten your seatbelts, we're going to land in an hour. Make sure your electronic devices are switched off…”

Veronica woke with a start from her uncomfortable sleep, her cramped neck stinging. Rubbing a hand on it, she took out her phone and checked the time. 6:14 pm. The sun is just visible on the edge of the horizon through the business class windows. After taking a selfie with a caption “landing!” and posting it to her Instagram stories, she switched off her phone and threw it into her handbag under the seat.

Cursing the captain’s announcement for waking her up, Veronica leaned her head back on the headrest and tried to will herself to a little more sleep, but her mind wouldn’t. Not after the stupid dream, reminding her of her regrets and decisions she had made. She felt something squirm in her stomach that was probably due to the drop of altitude, but that wasn't it, she knew. It was what was waiting for her 3956 feet below, her town, Riverdale.

She hadn’t seen Riverdale, the town with pep, for a month. Her parents bought her a ticket to Venice for a month in the summer holidays, a place she always dreamed of going. She remembered she was squealing with delight, screaming about the places her parents would have to visit once they’re there, but after finding her parents won’t be able to come, her excitement died down faster than clouds disappearing on a windy day. She knew that they just wanted her away while they did their dirty business back in the town, degrading land prices by thrashing them, stirring up trouble between the Southside and the Northside again, the latter in which she had interfered and stopped the first time, which pissed her father off _really_ much, but he didn’t show his annoyance. He tried to put on that lovely _-father-my-princess face_ as he gave her the ticket, which she didn’t fall for. His intentions of getting her away was clearly etched on his face.

But in the end, she agreed to go to Venice alone. Even when her father wanted to buy another ticket for Archie Andrews, so she’d have some company during the stay (and partly to make up for his absence).

Unfortunately, that also did not cheer her up. It just caused her to break down in front of her parents, admitting that she was no longer with the red-headed Ansel Elgort (she also had to convince her father that it was her choice to break up with Archie or else he would’ve sent someone after him).

Archie had always been there for her, time and time had proven that he will never go anywhere, whatever happens. They went through so many horrible stuff together, Veronica never thought there would even be the slimmest chance that they’d separate. Ironic, isn’t it, she thought it could never happen, yet she was the sole reason it _happened_.

The night at the White Wyrm, that horrible night, as she said the inevitable to him, his face falling apart. She remembered how she broke down in the car as Andre drove her home. She remembered how hard it was for her to fall to asleep that night, how she twisted and turn in her bed, her pillows damp from her tears. He just wanted to hear her _four words reply_ to his _three words_ , but she wasn’t bold enough to do so.

_All because I couldn’t tell him I loved him back_

Veronica did love him, for all she knew, but she was never good with her words. Her mother always tells her _“_ _Las acciones hablan más que las palabras”_ , action speaks louder than words, and she always did that. But she knew it was no excuse to her inability to tell him that she loved him too. Words cut deeper than knife, and quite contrary to her mother’s words, her “ _I can’t let myself go there with you_ ”, cut both their hearts out.

And Veronica knew that she had hurt Archie really bad, and yet she requested him to remain friends with her. He smiled when she told him that, but they didn’t quite reached his eyes, and she knew she was tearing them piece by piece. Her words were permanent, her damage left scars. She knew she couldn’t fix it. She knew that she didn’t deserve him at all.

And just when she thought she was getting to use to it, Archie moved on and dated another girl. She even told him she was happy for him, all while her mind shouted _Liar, liar, liar_!  She was crumbling again on the inside, so much anger at the new girl she knew that wasn’t her fault, and at how Archie seemed to move on so fast. Veronica knew she was being selfish, but it was her feelings, wasn’t it? How could she complain? She was the one who broke them apart, and Archie was free to sleep with any damn girl he wants.

She misses him, and that was she all she could admit two weeks ago, lying in bed as she watched the world dimmed, thinking at how much it could be _brighter_ if he was there. She missed his smiles, his stutter when he gets excited, and his little idiosyncrasies when he’s nervous. She misses his voice, the way he used to serenade her, and the way his fingers used to strum the guitar softly, but she could hear every single melodious tune he played. She missed the way he felt inside her, his lips, his heavy hard chest that used to rub against her bare breasts, the way he whispers her name when they’re done having sex. The way she used to trace her fingers across his abs and his fingers in her hair caressing her scalp, until she falls asleep.

                                                                                                                    *******

Her black limo was waiting for her as usual, Andre, her driver astride it. He took her bags and loaded them in the trunk, and after muttering her thanks, she got into the backseat, and took out her phone. Her Instagram story has reached almost 70 views, and her DMs filled with all the “welcome backs, can’t wait to see you soon”, from her friends and some random followers, which she never bothered to reply. She looked out of the window as she passed the street that would lead to Archie’s house. As hard as she tries not to admit it, this is probably the closest she’s been to Archie since a month, unless he is somewhere else, in _someone else’s fucking arms_. Her lips starts to quiver at the very thought, her eyes prickle, so she forces herself to push him out of her mind for at least five fucking minutes ever since she entered Riverdale airspace.

Andre pulled up in front of the Pembrooke, as she finished her 4th song on her playlist, and just finished checking who viewed her story, and was certainly sure that no _a.andrews_ was there in the list. She knew she felt disappointed, but heck, for what reason. She was the one who threw him away, and even though she still continuously keep tabs of him on social media, she always expected him to do so as well. _Selfish_. And she failed at keeping him away from her mind for 5 minutes ( _would she ever be good at anything?_ )

She got out of the car with a heavy sigh and walked into the grandeur house, which was the only place that felt like home to her, despite her ex crazy rich life in New York.

 “ _Mija, bienvenido,”_ Hermione says as she gets up from the sofa with open arms when she sees Veronica coming out of the elevator, “I hope your trip back was okay.”

“It was comfortable, Mom,” she replies through gritted teeth, sinking into her mother’s arms, “Where’s Daddy?”

She notices her mother’s face falls at the question, “Daddy is out for some business, having dinner with some of his partners.”

“This late?” Veronica feels something drops in her stomach, “Is he with Fred?”

“No, no, _mija_ with some of his partners from New York,” confirming Veronica’s suspicion of her father’s mobsters being in town, and her stomach plummeted further. They never come to Riverdale unless there is something serious going on.

“What do they want? Mom, is Daddy going to be okay?”

Hermione smiles sadly as she said, “I’m afraid they want a 25% of the SoDale project Hiram is investing in, and they did not like it when he refused in the morning. So they…”

“They did what, Mom, did they do to something to him?” Veronica tries to keep her voice level and her emotions in control.

“No, _mija_ , they threatened us. Our family. They threatened to harm you. I’m so sorry, _mij_ a. But you have to be careful now. Your dad is out there trying to cut a fair deal.”

                                                                                                                 *******

Veronica turned her shower scalding hot and soaked herself in the stream of water soothing her muscles that has been in various uncomfortable positions. Leaning her head against the wall, as the water continuously run down her body and hit the floor with the steady drips that made her mind wander around, she wondered how and when her life had come to such a horrible state, a state where her father is probably in trouble, her mother scared for her life, and where she no longer falls asleep in someone else’s arm.

_Ever since I broke up with Archie?_

And then it was too much for her, as she broke down in the shower, sobbing the hell out of herself, her emotions and regrets breaking the dam, the dam that made her look strong and invulnerable, flowing all out along with the tears that burn her cheeks much more than the water. She sinks onto the floor and wraps her arms around her knees, her body shaking silently, and getting out only until the water was cold for her, and her eyes completely dried.

                                                                                                                 *******

_We’re just two ghosts standing in the place of you and me_

Veronica’s phone buzzed silently on her bedside table as she blow dried her hair on her bed. She grabs it up to see a familiar contact, Jughead, sent her a text.

_Hey you back? How r u doing?_

She texts back, her words contrary to how she’s currently feeling now.

_Yes, im doing gr8. Wbu._

He replies back instantly.

_Fine. Wanna grab some milkshakes at Pop’s?_

She’s taken back by such a late invitation, but she’s never the one to turn to down a milkshake at Pop’s, so she texts him back.

 _Yea sure.  
_ He replies instantly again.

_Pick u up in 5 :)_

After informing her mom that she’s going out to grab something to eat, and assuring her mom she’ll be safe with Jughead, Veronica, dressed in her usual black, walks past Andre in the lobby. She pretends not to notice, but Andre slips out after her as she gets out of the Pembrooke. Under her mother’s order obviously.

Jughead was waiting for her, who was leaning against his big motorcycle, his dark hair swiped back except for that one strand that falls over forehead, making him look like that bad guy, with a darker motive in every movie. He was in his Serpent jacket and his beanie was absent, confusing Veronica a little bit, as that was his highlight.

Jughead and Veronica have never been close, due to him throwing snide remarks at her luxurious life, and getting pissed at her just because her father is trying to get rid of the Southside, and sometimes he would be nice to her, leave her alone, and doesn’t complain when she interrupts his games with Archie. His mood swings are the reason which Veronica barely can tolerate him. But the month she spent after her break up with Archie, she wanted to do something that would keep her busy, that would keep her mind from straying back to Archie, so she decided to delve deep into her father's business with the Southside, and it was from there as she learned her father is purposely putting Jughead's father into trouble by forcing drug trafficking on the Serpents, the reason why Jughead's been living miserably due to the stress of getting caught. Even though she didn’t see eye to eye with Jughead, that was the final straw of her patience. Everything he said about her dad and her life would be true, and she can’t live with that, her family being the reason Jughead’s suffering. She teamed up with Jughead (took a while to gain his trust) and they both ran around Riverdale, occasionally tagged along by his Serpent friends, finding those who are in business with Hiram that dared to open their mouths. Jughead published everything he found in the Blue & Gold, with Veronica's help, thus exposing her father's activities in the Southside, causing Hiram to pull back and confront the town himself. Then again, Hiram, backed by the wealthy Lodges Industries, could just blow the whole fiasco away with all his dirty techniques, but he didn’t, which totally bamboozled her. Until she found out her father knows what she did, and was so angry with her she'd though he was going to disown her. She remembered her argument with her father, the shouting match she had, that was only saved by Hermione intervening. Hiram eventually forgave her, but from that time onwards, he never behaved the same way in front of her again, he never treated her like his princess/little girl again. And out of the commotion and shit that she went through, Jughead became a close friend, promising the Serpents would have her back if she ever needed it.

“I left it at Betty’s house, in case you’re wondering,” Jughead says before Veronica could open her mouth to ask him about the beanie. 

She smiles and hugs him,” So you came from Betty’s?”

He chuckles as he pulls away and hands her a helmet,” No, I forgot it last night, and the Cooper’s are at Greendale for the weekend.”

“Right,” Veronica takes the helmet, “Do I really need this?”

He takes it back, “Your wish.”

Jughead puts the helmet on instead as she climbs over the big motorcycle behind him. He gunned the engine and sped off without a warning, causing Veronica to nearly fall off. She wraps her arms around his waist, causing him to smirk over his shoulder. She pokes her tongue out and gives him a stink eye.

Veronica let the cool wind blow around her face, savoring the feeling as it travels over her cheek, where not so long ago, hot tears left their courses on. Her hair flew around her face, and she starts to feel light and relieved as this ride seems not to only be blowing her hair away, but her tension and sadness. She doesn’t want it to end, but as soon as she thinks of that, Jughead pulls up to Pop’s parking lot. The universe does really hate her, doesn’t it?

The tinkling bell when she pushes open the door caused her memories with Archie to flow back to her with a force of a stampeding elephant. She remembers how she used to hold his hands leading him through, and cuddling up in a booth, forcing him to keep his wallet in his pocket so she can pay instead, and telling him how he can _pay_ her back later, with a naughty smile . Those moments seems like a thousand years ago, and God knows how many times today, she forces herself not to cry, but reminiscing still made her stop halfway entering the door, causing Jughead to bump into her.

He catches her by the arm so she doesn’t fall to her face, “Whoa, Lodge, you okay?”

She swallows hard and stutters, “I’m fine, f-fine.”

Veronica pulls her jacket around her more securely, and pulls herself as well, she couldn’t afford to break down in public. She walks up to the counter and greets Pop with a big smile who chuckles merrily saying he misses her around here.

“I miss you too, Pop’s. And I’ll be honest, your burgers and milkshake more,” she replies with grin.

“Oh, dear, you always make this old man smile”, he says, still chuckling, and then turns around and notices Jughead, “Hello there, Jughead, weren’t three burgers in afternoon enough?”

Veronica turns around with her mouth open at such a person who could eat three burgers in the afternoon and miraculously be hungry.

“I have a big appetite, and I’m always hungry,” Jughead mumbles apologetically, as Veronica and Pop laughs.

“Well, get a booth, I’ll get the burgers and the milkshakes,” Pop says, turning around to whip up his legendary patties.

“Get one more as take away, Pops, for my mom, please,” Veronica requests, and Pops winks.

She follows Jughead into a booth at the end of the shop. They don’t say anything much, but when the food arrives, Jughead finishes his burger before Veronica is even halfway through hers.

“You really are a fatass,” she cracks up. He smiles with his mouth full.

He swallows and asks, “So how was Venice? Was it beautiful?”

“Yeah it was, like a paradise. Especially the sunsets over the canals. I have taken a lot of photos and I’ll probably upload it on Instagram so everyone can admire my photography skills”, she jokes the last part, knowing it would piss Jughead for her to talk about photography like she knows more than him.

He scoffs, “Yeah, right. Leaving the photography part though, did you enjoy?”

She tries to ignore the hint in his questions, and she tries to steer the conversation somewhere else, “Of course I did, but nothing really eventful or anything worth mentioning to be honest, I guess you probably saw everything that happened on my stories”, she pauses for a while, watching Jughead finishing his second milkshake, “But how was it going in on around here in Riverdale? I haven’t really bothered myself to check up other people's social life much”

Jughead smiles and goes into story mode telling her how much she missed, how Cheryl came out and started dating Toni (she was suspicious why Cheryl wouldn’t get a boyfriend, even though she could), Jughead’s Serpent friend, and how Josie’s mother reacted when she found out about her one-night stand with Reggie. Veronica nearly chokes on her milkshake hearing that, and cracks up when hearing how Betty found out that Kevin was hooking up with her gay gigolo brother, Chic. Her mind wanders although, temporarily coming back to the interesting parts of the story. She wonders how different things would be if Archie was here instead of Jughead. It’s not like she doesn’t like or enjoys Jughead’s company, but she knows that if Archie was here instead, her heart would be beating out of her chest, he would be looking at her with his big brown eyes, always in search of something new on her face. She wouldn’t be able to swallow her food, or actually finish it even, as she would be so busy kissing his lips, which were way more appetizing than her burgers, and they would be connected by their mouths until they reach Archie’s room or her’s.

“Yeah, so pretty much Betts freaked out, I mean she was already freaked out when she found out her brother is a gigolo, and now he’s gay, and hooking up with her best friend? That’s like triple freaked out”, Jughead still continuous and laughs, “Oh yea, and did you know that Arch-,”

Veronica jerks her head up and Jughead cuts off with an apologizing look. She clears her throat and drinks her milkshake, but now that they landed on a topic they shouldn’t, it starts to taste like sawdust in her mouth.

Jughead starts, “Look, I’m sorry, I-“

Veronica interrupts him, “It’s okay.” She doesn’t know why her voice sounds unnaturally husky and high-pitched.

They sit in silence for an awkward 5 minutes, and she can’t seem to stand the silence. Just as she thinks of something to say, Jughead opens his mouth.

“You still miss him, don’t you?”

Veronica looks up at him, and realizes this was all he really wanted to talk about. His face was sad, probably due his two best friends is broken apart, and she guesses it’s also killing him as well.

_Just when I thought this was going to hurt only Archie and me._

She stutters, “Yes, I do.”

“How do you feel about it?”

Veronica sighs as she puts her face into her hands, “Honestly, I don’t know. Horrible? Sad? Angry? I don’t know anything at all, Jughead. This break up has my feelings at crossroads.”

“It’s like living in hell the month after the break up, helping you work out all the problems did help, it kept me distracted. But once it was over, I felt like I was alone again, and my father not even feeling remorse for his actions at all, and I thought this time escaping to Venice would help, turns out living alone _some where else_ just encouraged all my darkest voices to be louder, made everything worse. That’s why I decided to come back a month earlier, thinking that coming back here and at least seeing his face,” she starts to choke, takes a deep breath and continues, “But when I reached Riverdale today, I feel like I wanted to run away again. I don’t know why, but I’m scared. Scared that seeing his face again would not only comfort me, but make me miss even more. I’m all fucked up, Jughead.”

Jughead nods, keeping silent as he watched Veronica wiped a tear from her eyes. She felt a bit relieved, getting those words out to someone who would listen and understand, because she’s keeping all these words and regrets inside her for a whole month and maybe she couldn’t just hold it any longer.

“I didn’t want to break up with him at all, Jug. I felt like an asshole when I couldn’t tell him that I loved him back, and it all fell crashing into my face when he told me it didn’t matter if I don’t say it back. He was trying to not make me feel bad, even though I totally hurt him in the first place, he was still all in for me. I was scared, to be willing to accept everything he was going to give me, and was scared to let him in all the way. Everything was new and real for me, I wasn’t ready. And I know it’s no excuse, but I totally fucked up. There’s probably no going back as well, now that he’s moved on with someone else.”

She starts to sob at those last words, and put her head in her arms, so no one else could see her crying. Jughead reaches for her hand and holds it until she regains control over herself. She took the tissues he offers her and wipes her eyes, grateful for his presence.

“He’s never moved on, you know”, Jughead says.

Veronica gives a dry chuckle, trying to ignore that fleeting movement in her heart, “What makes you say that?”

“Archie and Sammy broke up yesterday.”

“What? No way.”

She tries to focus on Jughead, because her head was starting to feel light-headed. She wasn’t even sure she heard him.

“I’m not lying, but apparently they broke up yesterday.” Jughead says.

Veronica’s mouth is hanging open. She is totally at lost, “But why?” They were always happy together. Could she coming back be the reason? She curses herself silently for seemingly ruining every relationship Archie has, and for that stupid heart-fleeting moment again.

“Sammy is totally fed up with Archie being miserable and gloomy during the past few days, and um well, “Jughead mumbles, “I guess I shouldn’t tell you this but uhh.”

Veronica pressed him, not even sure why, “What happened? Tell me.”

Jughead starts to turn red, “After the break up, Archie told me that while they were having sex he moaned out your name while he climaxed”, he blushes as he said that.

If Jughead’s face was red, it was nothing compared to how Veronica’s face seems to be burning. She tries to force down her devious smirk, and she feels so shameless as her mind wander to the nights he actually _did_ that. She wasn’t going to break down reminiscing this time, as this new piece of information does lift her up. She feels like an asshole again.

“Oh my God”, she mumbles, covering her face as Jughead chuckles embarrassingly.

Veronica lifts her head up and says, “And they broke up? Just like that?”

“Well yeah, I was there during the fight, Sammy accused him of not trying to forget you even a little bit, and not being himself and the boyfriend he promised to be. I expected Archie to fight back a little bit, but he didn’t at all. He just gave up and accepted everything, and told her to go. And now you know that he totally hasn’t moved on. Still stuck where you left him.”

Veronica swallows as she tries to process everything she’s hearing. Archie hasn’t moved on like she thought he did. He’s still in the same desolate position as she is. Both of them stuck in the same place, where new lovers come and go (for him, in this case), no one leaving a mark, which can only done by each other. Is the universe still giving her another chance? A chance at redeeming herself, by proving that’s she’s the one meant for him, and he’s the one meant for her?

_No, you’re going to set him and yourself on another path of heartbreak._

She sighs again, but this time, the fluttering hope in her heart doesn’t distinguish.

Jughead’s phone rings at his side. He grabs it and frowns at the screen before answering the call. Veronica twirls her straw to get the last of her milkshake.

“Hello, Mr. Andrews?”

She looks up at his words, and she feels her stomach drop a hundred feet as Jughead’s face starts to rapidly turn white.

He lowers his phone as she can hear the line cut, his hands visibly shaking. He looks into her eyes and says shakily, “Archie got into an accident at Sweetwater Bridge. He’s in the hospital now.”


	2. Chapter 2

Veronica barely registers what happens next. Her body automatically responds to Jughead's words, and she leapt out of her seat, running after him, Pop’s voice strangely distant, who calls her to take her mom's takeaway.

She reached the motorcycle and climbs up just as Jughead gunned the engine and sped off the parking lot with a roar, not even bothering to put on a helmet. On every other normal occasions, she would have warned him not to drive this bloody fast, but she doesn’t care right now.

All she cares, no, all she _needs_ right now is to reach the hospital and see Archie as fast as she can.

Veronica's heart thumps in her chest faster than the wind blowing against her face. She doesn’t feel the force it's slamming her face with, but she feels the force the news slammed on her. Ultimately, it was a low blow, just when she had that fluttering hope inside her, the universe doesn’t take it away from her, but decides to put the _someone_ she had _fluttering_ _hopes_ for in mortal danger! Oh, fuck the universe.

_Please be alive, Archie. Please be alive, I'm coming._

Just as much as she wants him to be alive, the _other_ side of her mind started to whisper her dark doubts. _Crashing his car at Sweetwater Bridge? There’s a lot of chance he could’ve fell into the river. Wouldn’t that mean he would've drowned? His lungs would be waterlogged even if someone managed to save him. Or he would've died of hypothermia after they’ve saved him. Or did he jumped out of the car before it plummeted down the freezing depth of the river, and bleed out from his wounds?_ Her thoughts raced faster than motorcycle, and she forces herself not to cry, no, she could not, must not break down this time. She swallows hard as they flash past the police station, indicating that the hospital is close, just after the next turn.

Jughead remains so silent, she wonders if he's a part of the automobile, even when they pulled up in front of the hospital. She jumps out before he evens switches off the engine, opening the entrance door so hard, passer-bys turned to stare at her. She’s running into the lobby and turning into the emergency corridor, Jughead silently behind her. She sees two men at the end of the corridor and runs up to meet them. Fred Andrews is sitting on one of the waiters' seat, lifts his head up from his hand to see who is approaching. FP Jones, Jughead's father, hugs Jughead, who just caught up behind her.

Fred gets up and hugs her, his voice almost breaking against her, “Veronica. You came.”

“Is he okay?” she asks shakily as she pulls away and nods to FP, watching Jughead hugging Fred.

Fred sniffs and replies, “I don’t know, the doctors are still in the room.”

“How did it happened?” Jughead asks, his voice full of worry and forced calm.

“The tire blew and apparently he kept the car in control before it slammed against a tree at the end of the bridge. He got out before the car could slide off the slope and sink into the river.”

It was Sheriff Keller who answered, coming out of a room, a room only where Archie could be present. Veronica tries to look past the sheriff into the room but there was someone, a doctor probably, blocking her view.

“He’s alright, he had a minor blood loss but his vitals are okay, nothing too serious. The doctor will fill the rest of the details when he’s done checking him up, I have to go to Sweetwater Bridge”, the sheriff replies as he notices her peeking on her tiptoes.

Bother Jughead and her sigh of relief at the same time. Sheriff Keller claps a hand on Fred’s back with a reassuring smile and nods to everyone around him and leaves. Veronica's heart still beats harder and faster than normal, sure that this is totally not the end of the universe's decisive fucking with her.

“Oh thank God”, Fred sighs, as if he’s exhaling all the worries he’s ever had in his life, and turns around to face Veronica and Jughead, “Kids, its late now, I'll stay, I guess you shou-“

Again, they both started protesting at the same time, and Fred raises his hand up as an indication to say _okay, okay, stay._

FP answers his phone as it rings. He spoke a few words and hung up, “Uh, Fred, I'm sorry but I have to go. Some Serpent business, but I'll be back ASAP.”

Fred is already sitting again and nods as FP claps a hand on his back ( _why is everyone doing that?_ ), smiles at Veronica, and hugs Jughead on more time before leaving.

The three of them sat there in the lobby for what felt like hours until Jughead dozes off, his snore echoing around the corridor, Fred's face was in his hands, asleep or not, Veronica couldn’t tell. She doesn’t hear it though, the snoring that gained Jughead a disapproving glance from a passing by nurse, her mind is too busy processing everything. What happens when Archie wakes up? How will he react when he sees her? Will he be angry, that she came to see after all this time, only when he nearly died? Or will he smile widely, like he used to every time he sees her? Her thoughts are cut short when she hears approaching footsteps, her brain taking forever to process an execution to lift her head up and see who was approaching. By the time she looks up, the owner of the footsteps had already reached her. She sees her mother, and gets up to sink herself into her mother’s open arms for the second time of the day.

Hermione whispers against her ears, “ _Mija,_ I’m so sorry, I just heard the news from Sheriff Keller.”

Veronica forces her tears back in her mother’s arm, but she can’t resist it, what with the warmth her mother holds her with, how she misses it when someone’s arms wraps around her like that, that makes her so secure and sure of herself, sure that everything could and would be alright. Hermione pats her head as she cries shamelessly, her face buried in her mother’s shoulder. Their encounter seems to have awoken both two men, because she can only her hear own sniffling’s as Jughead’s snores are absent from the corridor.

Her mother embraces Fred as Veronica wipes her eyes with the tissue Jughead offers her, “Is he alright, Fred?”

Fred barely opens his mouth to answer, but he was interrupt by a doctor coming out of the room.

“How is he?” Veronica asks the doctor before anyone else can.

The doctor looks at his clipboard and replies, “The bone breakages are nothing major, he’ll heal. But I’m afraid the concussion could affect his brain as a triggering factor, but we don’t know for sure yet. Although, the chances of that happening are really less”, he sighs and continues, “He’s still sleeping, you can go see him, but please try not to wake him up, he needs rest.”

The doctor steps aside and gestures them through the door. Veronica waits for Fred to go in first, but he puts a hand on her shoulder, silently asking her to lead all of them in. She walks in, her chin tilted up, her lower lip quivering, her stomach squirming, afraid that anything could scare her away. _Would he be unrecognizable?_ _Would any of his injuries be bad enough to break her?_

She can’t stop the tears from flowing when she sees him, despite the effort not to, but not because he looks like he’s going to die of some _gruesome_ injury, or some bruise that ruined his perfect facial features, but because he looks the same. Her perfect _Archie Andrews_ looks the same, his red hair that frames his face, and the thing that makes her break down the most, is the fact that he’s sleeping _peacefully,_ his features relaxed and she could swear he could be smiling in his sleep. It _painfully_ reminds of her of the times she used to wake up next to him, and she’d just lay there, watching his same _exact_ relaxed features, listening to his slow deep breathings, until she couldn’t resist and kissed him awake. Except this time, there is a big bandage covering his temple. She approaches him cautiously, as if he is going to wake up suddenly and attack her, Fred right behind her. He reaches his hand out and softly touches his son’s face and starts to shake, sobbing silently. Hermione starts soothing him, by patting his back, and Jughead silently watching from behind. They all stay there and watch Archie sleep for a while until Hermione turns towards Veronica.

“ _Mija,_ Archie is fine now, we can come and visit tomorrow, when he’s awake, and you haven’t rest at all after the flight”, she says, looking into her eyes worryingly.

Before Veronica can argue, Jughead says, “You should go and rest, Veronica. I’ll stay with Mr. Andrews.”

She looks at Fred, who nods in reassurance, and then turns to her mother who is still looking her. She slowly nods and smiles, turns around to leave.

                                                                                                           *******

_She’s in a boat, a classic Italian-styled, rowing through the rivers of Venice. He’s there too, sitting right in front of her, taking photos, laughing and looking so alive. His hair is like fire under the sunset, the soon to disappear rays of light illuminate the world in front of her, her world, in many different shades of orange. He catches her staring at him, and smiles that smile that’s only reserved for her, that smile which always light up his brown eyes, and which always seems to lighten her mood up, always making her heart melt. She leans in to kiss him, and he responds with such enthusiasm that he drops his camera and pulls her closer, pulls her onto his lap. She smiles against his mouth as he whispers, “I love you.”_

_Everything around them turns dark and suddenly, they were floating in a complete different river. She gets up from his lap and look around, her stomach dropping once she realized they were in Sweetwater River. Didn’t someone important to her nearly died around here? She can’t remember. She hears a splash and whips around to see him drowning. She screams and extends her out her hand to help, but the boat is moving out of his reach._

_“Help me!” he struggles._

_“I’m trying!”_

_“Say that you love me as well!”_

_“What?”_

_“Too late.” His head sinks under the water as she screams, and the boat starts to sink. She tries to jump out but she seems glued to the surface of the boat, as it drags her into the freezing depths of endless water. She screams her last scream ever as everything blacks out, the water suffocating her._

Veronica woke with a start, breathing heavily, as she feels herself covered in cold sweat. She wipes her face, and realizes it wasn’t only sweat on her face. Swallowing hard, she gets up from her bed and finds her way in her bedroom to her table where a jug of water stood and poured herself a glass, downing it in one go. She drinks 5 more glasses until her breathing slows down, and now she might wake up to use the bathroom more often than usual, but she doesn’t care. Better waking up to pee than waking up from a nightmare. She sets down the glass and looks at her dimly lit mirror, observing her own dark reflection, trying not to vision Archie drowning _again_. She watches her reflection jump as she hears the elevator dings from the foyer.

“They agreed, or so they say. Now that’s where you come in.”

Her stomach squirms as she hears her father speaking. Tip toeing towards her bedroom door and opening an inch, she peeks through the slit and sees her father talking to someone that’s blocked from her view by one of the many columns present in the foyer.

“What do you want this time?” a voice replies harshly, a voice that she recognizes, that sends goosebumps up her arms.

“It’s not what I want, FP”, her father says, settling the squirming right at the bottom of her stomach, “It’s what I need.”

“What if I refused?”

“Well, if you would, let’s just say a _certain_ someone’s life could be in danger, say, Jughead for example.”

Veronica covers her mouth as she gasps, the force of the threat hitting her that nearly makes double up. _Jughead’s_ life is going to be in danger. She swallows hard again, and tries to calm down, while straining her ear to hear every word.

FP growls, no doubt the threat being a blow, “My son won’t be alone, he’s a part of the Serpent now.”

“Oh my, is his group of teenagers are supposed to scare my underlings?” Hiram says, sounding amused, “and please don’t ask me how I know about his group that surrounds him.”

She swallows again, this time trying to force back the vomit that’s building up to the disgust at how her father is enjoying the threat. She couldn’t see FP, but she was sure that his face would be burning from the anger. She sees him walks back into the open elevator without another word, his fists clenched.

“Consider my offer, FP”, her father chants ludicrously, turning around and walking into his bedroom.

She walks back to her table and nearly crashes into it, her head spinning and the vomit starting to build up again. She drinks how many more glasses of water she doesn’t know, she’s too distracted trying to calm down her nerves. Her neurons are firing, and they’re making her head hurt, so she shuts her eyes tightly and tries to absorb what she just heard.

She’s not prepared for this. What in the world did she do to deserve this? Archie gets into an accident and he nearly dies. And her father is _plotting_ again, bringing FP back into the mess, and endangering Jughead’s _life._ His fucking _life._ She runs to her bathroom and throws up in the toilet. The content burns her throat on their way, but her tears burn more, and the realization that her father _hadn’t_ changed at all burns her the most. Her head spins as her chest burns, her heart heavy from the continuous heartbreaks. After flushing the mess away, she sits on the toilet, shutting her eyes as tight as she could, trying to calm herself by blocking everything, by taking deep breathes, but she couldn’t do it. She gets up, washes her face and brushes her teeth before stumbling back to bed, sinking her face into her soft pillows. She tries to smell any lingering odor of the person who could make her forget all of this, but all she gets is the smell of detergents and her shampoo. Slamming a hand on her pillow that did nothing but ruined its perfect shape, she cries silently into the pillow, cursing everything in this unfair world. Her frustration, her regrets, her mistakes, her choices, her anger and so many other things right now that she’s feeling, she couldn’t bear it alone right now. She needs someone to help, it might be unfair, but she knows who could do it. He would hold her in his arms until she fell asleep, whispering her name against her head, telling her everything would be alright, and she did believe it would. She wipes the tears from her face as she barely regains control of herself, and reaches for a portrait on her bedside table. She wipes the bit of dust from the frame and smiles at the picture of her and Archie at one of her family’s gala event. Somehow, the image seemed to calm her down, settling her nerves, her headache somehow slightly disappearing, _soothing_ her. She stares at the picture until the sleep overtakes her once again.

                                                                                                         *******          

Her phone rings on her bedside table, the vibrating against the wood wakes her up. She squints against the sunlight that was shining through the slits of her bedroom curtains, her head pounding, groaning as she reached for her phone. She sees Jughead’s name on the display and answers the call quickly, last night’s event quickly coming back in her mind, the worry growing in her heart, and the nervousness settling in her stomach again. The photo of Archie and her is still in her hands

“Hey, is Archie awake?’ she asks anxiously.

“Yes,” Jughead says through the phone, his voice breaking, not because of the bad signal, but something else that brings Veronica’s heart to a stop.

“Is he alright?” she whispers now, because she can’t tolerate this anymore, doesn’t have the energy or ability to try and speak louder.

“He doesn’t remember,” Jughead says, now sobbing through the phone.

She chokes, “What?”

“He’s got amnesia.”

Suddenly, she doesn’t feel the frame of the photograph against her hand.

                                                                                                          *******

Veronica hangs up the phone and drops it. She feels blank. She doesn’t know whether to cry, scream, or throw anything that’s in her hand. She gets up from her bed, the photograph is still in her hands, but she doesn’t feel it. She walks into the living room, where her mother is sitting at the table, eating her breakfast. Her father is nowhere to be seen, probably sleeping in late. Hermione looks up from her phone and sees her daughter’s face, which is probably blank as well.

“ _Mija,_ are you alright?” her mother asks, her voice full of concern.

“Archie’s got amnesia”, she replies, her voice breaking, and now that everything comes crashing on her, the feelings, the realization at how much this _fucking hurts,_ she cries, tears running down her cheeks and dropping silently on the carpet, _._ Her mother gets up from the table and embraces her as she cries, because that’s the only thing she can do now. The photograph slips from her hand as she responds to her mother’s embrace, falling to the floor with a crack.

She doesn’t expect this, the amnesia. She expected him to recover from his injuries, or maybe get a scar from the accident, but everything would be back to normal in a week or so. Someway or somehow things would be alright. But _this?_

This could be permanent. All of his memories with her? The first time they so inappropriately but yet necessarily kissed in the closet? The first time she was bare in front of him in her bedroom, the way his eyes feasted over her body? Gone. And she feels selfish thinking about his memories of her only. What about Jughead? His best friend since almost forever, the time they reconciled after the Grundy situation, the time he found Jughead’s homeless situation and brought him in to live with him. Or Betty, their whole childhood growing up next to each other, how they bravely passed the Black Hood’s trials. Or even his father, whom Archie's always admired. She wasn't the only one crying in this town, she knows, so for once, she doesn’t feel ashamed for breaking down again.

                                                                                                        ********

Andre pulls up in front of the hospital's entrance, and Veronica opens the door and gets out, heading straight for the entrance, a cappuccino in her hand, her mother right behind her. She was walking so fast and was braced for anything that she's going to face, she doesn’t notice the blonde girl in front of the corridor where Archie’s room is and bumps into her hard, spilling her coffee on to the girl’s cream-colored coat.

The girl shrieks as the hot liquid hits her and she slips. Veronica grabs the girl's arms before she falls to the floor, “Oh my God, I’m sorry, I – Betty!”

Betty looks up and screams, “Veronica!”, and before Veronica could tell her to calm her voice down, she was engulfed in the vanilla-scent blonde hair as Betty pulls her into a bone crushing hug, her wet hot coat drenching Veronica’s black one.

“I missed you so much, V. I'm sorry I couldn’t come see you yesterday, the internet was out back in my apartment in Greendale, I didn’t know you were back, and I only just found out about Archie this morning, oh my god, and now he's got amnesia, I –“, Betty blurts out quickly, her voice muffled against Veronica.

“My god, calm down, B”, she says as she pats her hand on her best friend's head. She inhales Betty's scent deeply, and her nerves calms down, the smell spreading warmth throughout her body, and she's never appreciated her company this much.

“I just – I hope he's alright”, Betty says, her voice shaking.

“I know, me too, me too, Betts”, she replies softly, swallowing because she doesn’t want to cry right in front someone else who needs comfort.

They pulled away, and Veronica fishes some tissue out of her handbag and passes them to Betty. She wipes her cloth clean as best as best as she could. Betty greets Hermione, who was standing behind her all the time silently. She waits for them, then starts to walk towards Archie's room, just as Jughead comes out of the room. Her heart breaks at the sight of his _devastated_ face, and she just wants to give him a hug, but before she could, Betty flashes past her and jumps into his arms. Veronica stands there silently as she watches Jughead holding on to Betty like as if she's his lifeline, sobbing into her shoulders. Her heart starts to ache, and her mind starts to reminisce.

“He doesn’t remember anything”, he says as he puts Betty down and pulls Veronica into a hug, “Nothing, not even his name”, his voice quivering.

Her heart beats hard against her chest, her stomach squirming again, as she enters the room. Fred is sitting next to Archie's bed, his face so tired, old and sad, and Archie, who was awake, his arms folded while talking to the doctor. He looks more healthy and alive than she's ever seen, and she just wants to melt herself into those arms. He looks up as Veronica pushes the door open a little bit, the creaking distracting him.

The way his facial features changes, painfully yet breathtakingly reminds her of how he looked at her for the first time that she pushed open Pop’s door, the tinkling bell alerting him, what feels like a thousand years ago. His eyes crinkles and the smile that grows around the corner of his mouth, the breath that he draws in, gets her heart fluttering like that day, the day he looked at her and made her feel _special_ somehow. That fluttering hope she felt yesterday as Jughead told her that Archie’s still didn’t move on, ignites to a full guilty potential. She feels disgusted at herself for thinking, that if this was permanent, maybe they could start it all over again, somehow. Now that he doesn’t remember all the bad memories, she could try and forget hers. Maybe this was a chance that she could take, and fix all her mistakes and erase all regrets

But just as she thought at how she could do _some goodness_ in her life right now, he frowns a bit and she sees recognition growing in his eyes.

“Veronica?” he says.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> heey guys im baaack, i wanted to post this on thursday, but i really wanted you guys to read it lol. thanks for all the kudos and the comments last chapter, really appreciate it. tell me what you think of this one. oh and thanks @vickliebold for giving me a bit of advice on this chapter, be sure to check her works out, but im pretty sure y'all varchies are familiar with her amazing stories


	3. Chapter 3

_Chasing pain with an excuse_

_I love that shit and so do you_

 

It was followed by one of the loudest silence Veronica’s ever heard. She doesn’t even hear her heart pounding in her ears. All eyes in the room turns towards her, all the looks penetrating her, even from behind. Fred was looking at her with his mouth opened, and she hates the fact that Archie’s eyes are still fixed, his face frowned in full concentration, trying to figure out something God only knows. The doctor’s eyes travels over everyone’s faces, visibly wincing form the tension that’s building in the room. She decides to be the one to break the silence, because she’s just a second away from breaking apart herself.

“Y-You remember m-me?” she stammers, her mind so quiet she wonders if it’s dead on the inside.

He stammers as well, his face turning pink for no apparent reason to her, “Y-Yeah, I saw you i-in a dream, I guess, but that’s a-all I can remember.” He looks down, his face visibly red because everyone’s attention was on him. They all turn back to her once he’s done speaking. She swallows as her brain tries to process _what the actual fuck is going on._

The doctor is clearly shocked at the situation but clears his throats and says, “Well, this is stunning. Ms Lodge?” He directs his question at Veronica, “Can we talk outside the room for a moment?”

Veronica doesn’t know what to do as she is totally at lost, so she just nods and follows the doctor out of the room. He closes the door and turns to face her, speaking calmly, “Ms. Lodge, this is really an extraordinary situation, not that it ever happened with someone before, but still, I do have to say, it’s really rare. Mr. Andrews has no recollection of his memories at all, and usually when it comes to amnesia, something really important ought to stay behind a little bit, even the tiniest marks upon the person, which could be triggered back by so called important thing, such as his childhood memories, his parents and so on. None of that worked with him, but it seems you have. If you don’t mind me asking, what was your relationship with Archie Andrews?

She replies, “We used to date.” The question nevertheless stinging her, bringing some of her sensory nerves back, the pain at all of this slowly coming back to her.

The doctor notices her use of past tense, “Used to?”

She swallows again, this time trying to keep her voice in control, “Yes, we broke up.” She grits her teeth as she answers, wondering why the doctor was taking so long to get the fact that she doesn’t want to talk about it.

“Was it a mutual brea-“

She cuts him off, “I’m sorry, _doctor_ , but I don’t want to talk about it. I know it’s important and everything, but can we just skip to the part where you tell me what I have to do.”

Veronica breathes heavily as she stops speaking. He doesn’t react when she snapped, he just nods. She instantly regrets her shot of anger towards the doctor.

“Look, I’m sorr-“

It was the doctor’s turn to cut her off, he waves a hand and says, “It’s okay, I understand.” He sighs and continues, “What you have to do, is to spend time with him. Only if you agree, Ms Lodge, it’s your choice and I’d totally understand if you say no.”

“Does he have to know about our past? I mean, can you tell him we were just friends?” she asks nervously.

“Yes, it-“

“And would it help him recover his memories? “, she asks before he could finish the rest of his answer.

The doctor smiles, “Not instantly, but it could potentially work. Bit by bit.”

Veronica remains silent as her mind processes everything. Now that it starts to work properly again, she feels scared. _Honestly_ scared. She’s scared that she has to spend time with a person oblivious to her choice of breaking both their hearts . She doesn’t know what to make of it, but she’s certain of one thing for sure. She’d do _whateve_ r it takes to help Archie, and she knows she’d do it since day one. She doesn’t care what she has to go through, or that’s what she tries to convince herself. So she nods slowly at the doctor, who smiles at her again, and indicates her back to the room. She crashes into Jughead as she opens door, who was probably sticking his ear on the door trying to hear every word of the conversation. He falls on his butt, and Archie laughs out loud but stops suddenly as everyone turns towards him. He turns red as he notices Veronica’s eyes linger on him. She bites her lower lip and smiles to herself as she helps Jughead up.

The doctor starts to speak again, “Archie, this is Veronica Lodge, a friend of yours.” The doctor turns towards her and gave her the slightest nod, and Veronica smiles at him, feeling a whole lot of gratitude for the doctor. Everyone except Archie looks at her and the doctor questioningly, but they all keep quiet, and Archie doesn’t notice any weird looks everyone was giving each other ( _thank God_ ). He continues, “Apparently, the last vestiges of memories that’s barely clingy on to you, Archie, could be triggered back somehow. You remember someone from your past, in this case, Ms Lodge, and I recommend you to spend time with her as much as possible, as it could help you recollect your memories as fast as possible.”

Archie swallows and nods, not saying a word as his eyes are never leaving Veronica.

Fred claps a hand on his son, as Jughead sighs of relief, Betty closes her eyes, and Hermione places her hand on her daughter’s shoulder.

Veronica turns towards her mother, who nods reassuringly at her.

The doctor continues, “But I’m afraid you have to stay here a bit longer, we’ll have to do the final check-ups, although you’re probably fine. You’re healing fast.” He nods at everyone and leaves the room.

Archie looks disappointed at the fact that he has to stay in this foreboding hospital room one more day, and honestly, Veronica thought, who can blame him. A blank A4 sheet is more interesting than the current room they’re all standing in.

Everyone jumps as Jughead’s phone ring to 5SOS’s _Amnesia_ tune.

_I wish that I could wake up with amnesia_

Oh, the irony she felt.

He answers the phone and speaks a few words indistinctive to everyone. He hangs up and says to everyone, “My dad needs some help, but I’ll be back as soon as I can.” He kisses Betty and smiles at everyone before leaving.

Veronica’s thoughts melts away, as last night’s events come back to her in full force. Her father’s _threat._ Veronica’s mouth itches as she wants to shout at Jughead that the _help_ could potentially be her father’s doing, but her mother and everyone is standing around her, so she follows him out the room, ignoring everyone’s questions. She comes out of the room as he turns round the corner of the corridor towards the exit. Wondering how in the world did he move so fast, she runs up to him just as he puts his helmet on.

“Veronica”, he says, surprised, “What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be with Archie?”

“Yeah, I know that, but listen Jug. What does your father wants you to do?” she asks him, trying to sound innocently curious.

“I don’t know really, he said he needs some help to move some stuff at the White Wyrm. Why?” he replies, frowning.

She looks down as she asks him, knowing her eyes could give _it_ away, “Oh, okay. Are you sure it was father?” She knew moving stuff already smelled of no trouble, but she wanted to make _sure_.

Jughead looks totally confused, he answers with a raised eyebrow, “Uhhh, of course it’s my dad. Is there something I should know, Veronica?”

_Shit_

She looks and smiles widely, “Oh, no, no, nothing at all! Well, enjoy carrying stuff!” She winks and hopes she didn’t give anything away, but she knows she _failed spectacularly_ but he doesn’t say anything. Jughead’s eyes follows her until she gets back inside the hospital. She watches him as he starts the engine and drove away, the chill settling in her stomach.

Just as much as she wants to tell him her father could be putting FP and the Serpents into trouble again, she couldn’t. If she did, it meant _the conversation_ would be coming out of her mouth, and it would sound real to her, even if it already did last night. But she doesn’t want to accept the fact that her father is back into this mess again, she can’t. But she can’t also keep on trying to ignore the reality of her father’s reality. She just wants to turn back time to the days where she was so _oblivious_ to her father’s work, never wondering where all the glorious money came from. She draws in a deep breath and forces back her tears and pushed her thoughts to the back of her mind, as she walks back to her other _problem_.

Betty was talking Archie when she walked in the room, and it’s like as if they can’t help it, their eyes are drawn together again. He kept staring at her, right up until she reaches the bed, standing next to him and Betty. She could see herself reflected in those brown eyes of his, and she was sure that he wasn’t listening to a word of what Betty’s talking about, but neither was she. The familiarity hits her so hard that she felt like she flew back in time to when they met the first time, how they locked eyes the whole time, broken when interrupted by surrounding souls.

“Hey, Archie”, she says sweetly, sitting at the foot of his bed.

He smiles as two bright spots appear on his cheek, “Hey, Ronnie.”

She could see Betty shaking her head in her peripheral vision, probably due to how Archie seems so smitten by Veronica real fast, but she doesn’t care though, as all she hears and register is the _two-syllable_ nickname crafted by the voice she so well knows and loves. It seems like such a cruel joke the universe is playing on her. One second ago she was so in her head, worrying about her father and the Serpents, and now all of a sudden, none of that is nowhere to be found in her mind, because all she has running around in her head is how much Archie looks _beautiful_ to her and _lovely_ his voice sounds to her. She never knew he had the power to make her forget, but she could lying to herself if she was being _honest._ Hadn’t it always been like this? How she could always seem to lose herself in him so easily. Continuously lost in their small world but yet so founded and grounded blissfully.

Veronica snapped back to herself as Betty cleared her throat, realizing she was so deep in her own thoughts for a while. She shifts awkwardly and gives a small smile to Archie, as she tucked her own hair behind her ear. She suddenly remembers a question she’s been burning to ask as he returned the smile silently.

 “Archie, that dream you had about me, can you describe it?”

Archie seems taken back at the question but answers nonetheless, his face frowning in concentration, “I don’t really remember it clearly though, it was all a blur, but you were standing in a p-parking lot, I guess?”

Her stomach drops as the _two words_ wash over her. The _parking lot_. The only damn one in this town enough to leave a lasting effect on both of them. The White _fucking_ Wyrm’s parking lot. She knew she had no reason to abuse a fucking parking lot, but what the hell, it’s where she started this road she’s currently walking on, alone and vulnerable. The lump forming in her throat is painful and she just wants to let the tears flow freely, but she can’t do that right now, not in front of Archie.

Betty must’ve sensed her discomfort, as she reaches out and places her hand on Veronica’s. She looks at her blonde friend, who gives her an encouraging smile she never knew she needed. Archie seems to also realize how fast her face dropped, so he asks her, “Are you okay?”

Veronica puts on a fake smile on her face as she exclaims, “Yeah, I’m okay. I don’t remember anything that had to do with”, she air-quoted the words, “ _parking lots_ and you.” She’s lying to Archie and that’s one of the many things she’s never been good at in Archie-related stuff, but she hoped amnesia-Archie wouldn’t catch in on her real fast. Or maybe he already did, but he didn’t say anything.

“Well, it was a dream, no reason for it to be real, right?” he says, chuckling a little nervously. Veronica smiles again and Betty nods fervently. Both Fred and Hermione looked very _left_ out of the conversation.

Archie opens his mouth to say something to her, but before he could, they were interrupted by the opening of the door.

“Archie”, a sweet high-pitched voice that makes her turn around, to see a red headed woman in high heels.

Archie, nonplussed, looks at his father before answering his own mother, “Uh, hi?”

Veronica registers _pure_ heartbreak in Mary’s façade fall apart, knowing her own son doesn’t recognize his mother. Fred clears his throat, gets up towards Mary, and pats her on the shoulder, turns around and says to Archie, “Son, this is your mother, Mary.”

Veronica turns to look at how Archie reacts, and she just wants to cry at how wide and fast his smiles grows, sitting there speechless, struggling to find words, nothing but small, watery, laughs coming out from his throat. _Mother and son’s_ love is the best thing there is in this planet, that’s what they say, and she’s never been surer that it definitely is, as she has probably witnessed hearts forming in this room, love and emotion radiating in the room like a decaying radioactive element, affecting everyone around it. Archie tries to get out from bed, but nearly stumbles, probably from the pain, she thinks, so she and Betty helps Archie stand up. He still seems unfazed by the pain or anything, as he just stumbles towards his mother and hugs her.

The room remains silent as two souls cry into each other’s arms, Fred enveloping both of them sobbing silently as well. Veronica stands next to her mother, who reaches out a hand and wraps them around her’s, entwining their hands with warmth Veronica never she needed. She leaned her head on her mother’s shoulder, as Betty wraps an arm around her waist, tears pouring down her face as they all watch the emotions firing and breaking apart in the room.

                                                                                                            *******

Archie is discharged from the hospital around midnight, but he returns home with his family, Veronica watches as two red heads get into the truck with Fred and Betty, waving at Archie who waves back, grinning from ear to ear. Veronica smiles to herself, and she realizes, that she’s only smiled today because of Archie being happy, Archie being smitten and all dorky when he sees her, Archie making small nervous jokes, and Archie waving at her.

 _Hasn’t it always been about him?_ she thought to herself, smiling again as she heads back home with her mother.

                                                                                                            *******

“ _Mija_ , aren’t you going to say hello to your father a bit? _”_

Veronica turns around as she puts her hand bag down in the foyer, her father standing in his usual crisp black suit.

“Daddy”, she says, her lower lip quivering, her stomach dropping, as she feels goosebumps erupting on her arms. She realizes she’s experiencing fear, and she wants to cry so badly because she doesn’t want to feel like this in front of her own father. Her own _damn fucking_ father.

Hiram pulls her into hug that she barely returns, and even before she could give in into her father’s embrace, he pulls away, hands still on her shoulders, observing her with a look he thinks is supposed to be _fatherly_ , and maybe that’s what she would’ve supposed a thousand years ago as well, but she feels so scared as she feels like those eyes could penetrate right through her soul and pull out all her insecurities and secrets she so recently discovered.

“I missed you so much, _mija_ , you look so great”, he says, smiling at her.

Veronica plasters on the smile that’s so reserved for her father, the _charming princess_ smile, even though she knows he probably doesn’t want to treat her like that anymore, but she doesn’t know whether she can _really_ smile.

“Me too, Daddy.”

Her father’s face changes, looking at a little sad, “I’m so sorry to hear about Archie, _mija,_ send my condolences to Fred and Mary if you see them tomorrow.” He nods at her before leaving her standing alone at the foyer, her mind knowing too well what had happened in the same place the night before, and just as much as she tries to push it away from her mind, the voices keeps on haunting her.

Veronica crashes into her bed after and passes out instantly, her body ached, her mind feeling like mashed potatoes, wishing she dreamed of nothing but blissful memories that includes a certain red-head, and that doesn’t end up in a nightmare. And maybe for once, she got her wish.

                                                                                                               *******

Sipping on her cup of hot cocoa, just so she could do something rather than let her nerves take over her, Veronica waits outside Archie’s house late in the afternoon, as Fred Andrews opens the door.

“Hey, Veronica, come in”, he moves aside to let her in.

“How are you feeling, Mr. Andrews?” she asks him nervously. She was too worried in her head last night that she completely forgot to worry about the well-being of an old man, whom Archie is very, very important to. She feels guilty for not caring about the person who is affected by Archie’s amnesia more than anyone.

“To be honest, not so well, but what more could I ask for right now?” he indicates her towards the kitchen where Mary and Archie are talking and laughing together. Fred leans on the doorway, observing the scene, “Everything’s going to be better. Thank you for asking, Veronica.”

She smiles softly at him, feeling a whole lot better, but then again, she wishes she had the optimism and positivity Fred has. Archie looks up when Veronica enters the kitchen, and smiles brightly. She can’t help it, but her heart picks up the pace, her knees suddenly weak at the smile, illuminated by the late afternoon rays falling through the kitchen windows, and immediately the world seems like much a better place, filled with so much goodness she _so_ needed. She doesn’t know all of that could come with just a smile from this red head, an exclusive package, but maybe she knew it all along, it was there forever, and she just had to search it. And maybe she’ll start to believe Fred’s words.

“Hi”, Archie says, his lips still stretched in a grin.

She locks eyes with him, trying to calm her jittery nerves, “Hey, Archiekins.”

Archie seems taken back at her use of the nickname, but smiles even more, a knowing look growing in his eyes, “So, we both have nicknames for each other? “

She shrugs and makes eye contact with Mary, who giggles and gets up from the kitchen table, eyes lit with happiness.

“Veronica, honey, why don’t you help Archie take Vegas out for a walk”, she says as the big retriever comes stumbling in the room.

Veronica bends down to grab Vegas’ bright blue leash from the floor, “Sure, Mrs. Andrews. Come on, Vegas. ”

“Are you trying to steal our dog?” Archie jokes as he closes the front door behind them.

She rolls her eyes as Vegas leads her down the porch’s step “Pur-lease, I would’ve done that long ago if I wanted to, and I’m not sure if I am _capable_ of taking care of an energetic dog like this.”

Archie puts his hand inside his letterman jacket, the one she _wore_ on cold movie nights they spent, as they walk together to particularly nowhere, “So what makes you qualified slash capable to take care of me? “ he asks her, grinning cheekily.

She laughs, her shoulder shrugged because she found it genuinely funny. Wasn’t _she_ always the one who covered up his bruises when he gets into trouble?

“Well, number one, you are not as energetic as Vegas, and number two, I really fare well with red headed people, I guess? “

He laughs, “I need at least one more reason before I walk another step with you.”

She looks up and locks eyes with him, who doesn’t break away their gaze. She wants to scream _because we are in love_ , _that’s why you have to walk with me till the end of the world,_ but she can’t do that, she doesn’t want to ruin what she has right now, but what would she ruin? He doesn’t remember anything from their past, and maybe this could be a new start for her. Maybe she’s ready for this, but everyone seems to miss the old Archie more than her, and the guilt from last night comes tumbling to her. She starts to feel selfish and realizes she must have a bit more self control over her feelings.

She clears her throat while her mind ponders for another suitable answer, “Number three, because you have no recollection of anything in the past, and I don’t want you to get lost. “

He smirks at her reply, “Right.”

An idea struck her head, “Hey, Archie. “

“Yeah?”

“It’s kinda weird, because you’ve always walked Vegas, not me, so don’t you want to try? Since it’s going to be your first time, like in memory-related first time? “

“Uhh”, he seems unsure of what to do, and she gets the gist that he doesn’t want to.

Veronica is confused, “You don’t want to walk it?”

“He barked at me last night when I was trying to pet him. I don’t think he likes me”, Archie mumbles sadly.

“Eh? He doesn’t like you?” she looks at Vegas, who is still guiding her to nowhere she knows, but then it hits her.

“Oh, it’s because of the amnesia. “

Archie looks at her with an innocently raised eyebrow, “Are you telling me that Vegas has amnesia too?”

Veronica laughs, “No, no. You see, they say that dogs can sense when their owners are emotionally sad or mourning or whatever they’d be feeling, because it would affect the way they’d behave towards the dog. You’re having amnesia, Archie, so everything you’d do to Vegas, petting him or walking him, you can’t do it the way you used to anymore, and maybe Vegas knows and feels that, and you’d probably feel like a stranger to him.”

“Oh, okay, that’d totally makes sense”, he says

“But you should walk him, that should help you regain your ‘dog walking’ muscle memory back”, she says.

He chuckles, “Is that even a thing?”

She slaps him playfully on the shoulder, “Hey, I’m no doctor, but at least I have sufficient knowledge to help you walk a dog”, she scolds him.

“Okay, okay”, he agrees as he takes the leash from her hand.

Veronica notices that he grips the leash a little hard, causing it to restrain Vegas, who starts to growl, then barks at Archie when he turns around and sees who’s walking him. Vegas bounds towards Archie, who yelps and drops the leash, jumping behind Veronica.

“C’mon, boy, c’mon Vegas”, she calls as she picks up the dropped leash and lures the dog’s attention back to walking. Vegas growls one more time at Archie, who was still standing behind Veronica for protection, as if to say _We’ll continue this later_.

As Vegas resumes his prowl, Archie starts to slowly walk beside Veronica again, who is trying to keep a straight face.

“Let’s not talk about that, shall we?” he mutters under his breath, his face matching his hair.

She couldn’t keep it in anymore, so she bursts out laughing, and is joined by Archie a little later. And they cant seem to stop laughing.

_Maybe this is good enough._

But she knew, deep down, that it was never enough. She wanted all of him, and she couldn’t see how she’d do it.

                                                                                                             *******

They walked for so long, that the sun had already gone down and they didn’t notice, as they were so absorbed in their conversations. She waves goodbye at Archie from the backseat of her limo, who was standing on the porch, with Vegas next to him. She feels proud that she finally got Archie and Vegas to be friends. Nothing to really be proud of, her logical, sane part of her mind thought, but anything that had to do with Archie makes her happy, so she doesn’t complain, grinning from ear to ear. She seems to be so happy, or maybe she was radiating it, as Andre even asked her from the front seat that why she couldn’t stop smiling.

“It was a long day, Andre. But maybe worth it”, she replies, knowing that he probably won’t get anything.

She was still smiling to herself in the elevator, and that’s when she was sure she’s going to smile herself to sleep or something. She gets out when the elevator door slides open, but she bumps into someone wearing a _leather jacket._

“Veronica”, F.P. says, clearly shocked.

If he was shocked, it was nothing compared to how she’s feeling. She’s stunned, disgusted, and feels hundred other emotions that’s running through her head.

“ _Mija.”_

She looks at the source of the voice, her father walking out of his office, tying a pencil tie. She wants to scream at the courage her father is showing her, bringing F. P. during hours where she could see him, not even bothering to be discreet.

“What is F. P. doing here, Dad?” she shouts, not even bothering to control her voice.

“ _Mija_ , lower your voice please. Mr. Jones is here to talk about the event we are going to hold in a week.”

“What event?” she asks accusingly.

“An event to commemorate Picken’s day and the South Side’s co-operation with the Northside. I was going to tell you about that, but I didn’t get the time at all, as you were so busy with Archie and everything. “

Veronica is still seething, her emotions boiling, but she was unsure of how to react, so she just nods at her father, and watches F. P. leave the foyer without uttering a single word. Hiram looks at her fleetingly, then turns back to his office

“Daddy, please tell me you’re not doing anything illegal with F. P. and the Serpents again”, she blurts out.

Her father stops dead, his hands on the office’s door handle. He turns around slowly, a sad look on his face as he surveys his daughter.

“ _Mija,_ I would never do that again, I’m so sorry for disappointing you last time. And I know you’re probably asking this question inside your head over and over again, the reason I sent you away because I know you were angry at me for doing all of that to Jughead, but I was also trying to change, I promise”, he says, his voice full of regret and remorse it actually convinces her.

“Promise me, Dad”, she falters, wiping a tear from her cheeks.

Hiram walks towards her and pulls her into a hug, whispering against her ear, “I promise.”

Veronica cries in father’s arms, as she absorbs his words, and she believes them, and she shouldn’t, but she can’t control her feelings. She wants her old dad back so _desperately_ she’s ready to believe anything, but her father has always been a bad person, so maybe she wanted to believe that her father would change, or maybe she’s trying to convince herself to close her eyes and trust in her father blindly, like she used to.

Hiram pulls away from the hug as she slowly stops crying, and looks at her right in the eyes

 “Trust me, _mija_ ”, he whispers.

Veronica nods as she swallows the lump in her throat. Her father smiles at her one more time before turning back to his office.

She doesn’t miss the glint in his eyes, as if he’s achieved something he _shouldn’t,_ something she should really be _careful_ with.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey guys it’s a been a while since I’ve last updated, cuz ive been grinding my nose studying for my coming up finals, so yeah, this chapter is going to the last one for a while, at least two weeks, cuz I totally cannot flop my CIEs. Hope you like this chapter and tell me what you think in the comments below!  
> Song in the beginning is Stay by post Malone, his new album is lit and I can’t stop listening. and Amnesia by 5 Seconds of Summer as well!


	4. Chapter 4

_Her trust._

Veronica never had mastered the knack to keep her feelings to herself when it comes to people she cared for the most, and yes, she admits, she cares for her father. What type of _daughter_ would she be if she doesn’t care for her father? But the more accurate and appropriate question in this situation would be for her father. What type of _father_ would break his daughter’s heart and trust _twice_ , and would be willing to it _again_?

Only if he did consider her as his daughter, not a business partner. Or something he could use as a proof that he is great loving father, not a crazy bent-on-ambition mobster.

She can’t get rid of the glint in his eyes. It was imprinted against her eyes, flashing a warning to her wherever she looked, and if she’d looked in the mirror, she’d see it painted over forehead. _DO NOT TRUST HIM._ And why should she? He broke her heart twice, the first time in New York, when she got home from a prom, still in her dress her father had bought her for her 15 _th _ birthday. She remembers being confused and worried by all the police cars surrounding her high-rise flat. She felt lost, stunned, empty, her head in complete disarray and her heart all over the place, as she saw through her tears, her father being lead into the police car, his hands _cuffed_ behind him. And after she took what she felt like _forever_ to let him back into her life again, he shatters her fragile trust again, when she found out all about the drug business with the Serpents. He even had the nerve to blow over the fiasco with the power of the Lodge’s industries, escaping the crime by the tip of his hairs, and smashing her already patched heart into a million pieces.

But she can’t believe herself, even after all that happened, she still _wants_ to believe him. She knows she can’t trust him again, but she’s _willing_ to mend her trust all back together even with a scotch tape, even if it would last just long enough, because she would cling to it, and cherish in it. She feels _disgusted_ at herself, at how she wants to feel okay with all this, even though all of this is so unfair to her friends, especially Jughead, but her heart beats in a rhythm that tells her not to hate herself. She just wants to be a _normal_ beautiful daughter with a _normal_ honest father. But normal was never common in her life.

She was still standing where her father left her, lost in her own dark thoughts whirring through her brain. Shaking herself out of the miserable reverie and wiping away her stranded tears left on her cheeks, she walks into her bedroom and slams the door shut, throwing her hand bag into a corner, and herself onto the bed, sinking herself into the soft mattress.

Veronica wishes she would never stop sinking into the soporific material, and wishes she’d never wake up from being stuck in a soft, comfortable, limbo forever. But as hard as she tries, she can’t push her father away from her mind. She tries to think of Archie, his bright smile, his infectious laugh and his messy red hair, the only _goodness_ she has remaining in her life, but it doesn’t even seem to work. She cries into her pillow as she realizes the sleepless nights are coming for her again.

***

“Did you sleep last night?”

Veronica was startled by the question Archie asks her. She did her best to conceal any sign of sleep-deprived looks in her eyes with makeup, which always tricked everyone into thinking that she had a good night’s sleep, but yet this red head seemed to able to pierce through all her layers, looking at her tired soul, at her _purest_ form.

“Why do you ask?” she queries him innocently.

Archie shifts his big feet around, his hands deep in the pockets of his sports jacket. They were standing outside the Pembrooke, the sky grey like her dull mood, the sun hidden by the thick grim clouds like her cloudy thoughts. She invited him for a morning run, because she just couldn’t shut her thoughts down last night, even till now.

He mumbles, “I don’t know, you look miserable.”

She gasps dramatically and accuses him playfully, “Are you perhaps telling me that I don’t look good, Archiekins?”

She was dressed for a run (obviously), wearing her favorite dark track jacket and black leggings. The dark tone of her outfit probably radiated and reflected her mood.

“No, I didn’t mean it that way – well, you seem tired. But you’re, um, looking nice as always, so saying that you look miserable was just a figure of speech, like – “,

“Oh my god, Archie, I know”, she laughs. The swirling hurricane inside her mind slows down to a tropical storm as she observes the flustered boy trying desperately to prove his point in front of her. And she pretends not to hear his compliment, but she can feel her cheeks warming up.

  _Idiot,_ she thinks.

She continues, “And I might look tired but I do want to run.”

“Right, right, let’s go then”, he says, his face visibly flushed.

Veronica rolls her eyes as she follows him, her heart already racing. They jog lightly to nowhere in particular, listening silently to the birds chirping, the melody echoing through the big, towering maple trees to their left, and the occasional whooshing of passing-by cars. She searches for something in her head that would be an appropriate conversation starter, but not because she can’t stand the silence, on the contrary, it sort of puts her mind at peace, but the peace and quietness that calms her mind down gives room for her gloomy thoughts to start swirling again. Weirdly enough, her mind remains blank for a straight five minutes as she searches for something, and she curses herself for the lack of words when she needed them most.

“What’s up?” Archie asks suddenly.

The train of self-curses were interrupted, and she turns to find him looking at her, concern etched all over his face, his crazy red hair contrasting with the greenery behind. Her eyes linger over the single drop of sweat travelling down the side of his face.

“Uh, the sky?” she answers blatantly, trying to throw him off the scent, because if he asks her about her well-being one more time, she’d break apart at her seams and tell him everything that’s currently ruining her life. Luckily, Archie laughs at her joke, and she doesn’t know why though, because it was a 100% cringe reply for her. Veronica Lodge always provide the _best-quality_ jokes and _high-class_ replies.

She searches frantically in her mind for something to do that would involve less talking.

“Want to race?” she says, knowing fully that she is going to lose, but what the heck, it’d at least stop him catching her off-guard with his sweet worrying questions.

He chuckles again, “Really?”

“Yes, and please do not take me for granted. Just because you have the body and the athletic requirements for a runner doesn’t mean you’re faster than me. Plus, I have won all racing competitions in the past.”

“Wow, racing competitions for 5 year olds but you got in?” he snorts.

Veronica smirks, “I’ll ignore that, and maybe let’s talk when we actually _finished_ racing, shall we?”

 “I’ll give you a head-start”, he laughs, “Oh, you are _so_ going to lose.”

“Veronica Lodge never loses”, she replies, and without another word, she starts running as fast as she could. She hears him trying to catch up, her breath already coming up short, but she kept on running as fast as her legs would allow her. She gulps in the cold morning air, and savors the feeling of the wind lightly blowing in her face, the way her feet hits the ground lightly before propelling her forward. The wind rushing past her ears quietens the world down a knob, her thoughts coming back to her like as if it was switched back on, like changing a channel on the radio. It feels good running, and she desperately wishes she was running away from _something_ , because she would experience the feeling of _leaving._ Funny thing is, she can. But she can’t as well. Every novel she’s read, the things that happened after leaving something behind was always new-found happiness, freshly carefree and all along those lines. And she admits that she thought of leaving Riverdale sometimes. The time when she broke up with Archie, and the time she discovered her father’s drug plan with the Serpents. And even though this town had done a lot to change her, she wants to leave it someday. Veronica Lodge was never the one to be attached to things. But why can’t she? Because here she is, running like she’s trying to escape, her efforts laughable from life’s point of view, knowing that she’d only be pulled back into all of the things that she’s tried running away from, but they keep on chasing her, things that she’s scared of, but they keep on haunting her, things that she’s tried to fix, but they stayed broken. She was prevented to hatch up an clever escape plan that the universe wouldn’t be able to foresee, so it can’t fuck with her no more as Archie caught up to her and says, “Your turn to keep up now”, and he sprints past her like it was the easiest thing he’s ever done in his life, like a red autumn leaf blowing over by the August winds.

She laughs and tries to keep up, and despite all the horrible things going on in her mind that starts to die down slowly, she just wants to forget all of it for now and focus on only one thing ahead of her. But her lungs spasms after three minutes of full sprint, and she comes to sudden stop, trying to catch her breath, panting heavily. She bends over coughing, wiping a hand on her sweaty forehead as she hears footsteps approaching. She looks up to see Archie running light mocking steps towards her, and cracks up despite the fact that she’s lost her own challenge.

“I thought Veronica Lodge never loses”, he chants mockingly when he reaches her.

She sighs heavily and smiles, “I guess Archibald Andrews is the only one capable of winning –”, she says, but cuts herself before she say _me over_. She corrects herself, “– my challenges.”

Either he was so happy at winning or embarrassed at her use of his full name, Archie did not notice her short pause. Veronica lets out a mental breath of relief, but the near slip is catching up to her fast, her eyes slowly grazing his torso. She is _distracted_. Her eyes were glued to the beads of sweat that is slowly and tauntingly dripping from his chin and some stray ones that made way to his neck and into his shirt, which was already sticking to his chest partly and his abs from the wetness, taking shape of all the way his muscles were carved. Even though it wasn’t that detailed, Veronica just knows the turns and bumps on his body, she can imagine it, because she spent all those nights mesmerizing _and_ memorizing every detail of him, and all of it just gets her sweating more, her heart beating way faster than when she was running. She makes a mental note that if she ever wanted to burn some calories, she’d just need to stare at a sweat-soaked Archie Andrews.

“So did all your racing competitions lasted whenever you’re tired or what?” Archie jokes.

She straightens up laughing, still trying to catch her breath, “Oh, shut up. I wasn’t –,”

She hears it before she sees it. The roaring sound so familiar to her ears, goosebumps erupting throughout her forearm her as two motorcycles round the corner in front of her and whizzes pass them, heading towards the direction they were running from. She registers the two entwined serpents on the back of their drivers, her stomach dropping a hundred feet. The cold morning air suddenly gets impossibly colder, biting her sweat covered skin.

“Isn’t that the Southside Snakes or something? The one Jughead’s in?” Archie asks, his eyes observing the trail left behind by the motorcycles.

“Serpents. And yeah, the one Jughead’s in”, she says, her mind strangely blank, but her stomach was bubbling from something she can’t quite understand. Fear? Alarm? Anger?

“Are you okay?” Archie asks again, eyeing her face, his voice tinged with concern again.

“I-I’m okay. Uh, yeah I’m f-fine”, she stammers, the pain in her chest growing out of nowhere. Her breathings are constricted. She takes a deep breath to calm down her nerves.

Veronica’s feeling start to catch up to her. Her mind starts whirring again, and the bubbling in her stomach intensifies, and she comes to realize it was _anger._ Anger at the fact that she took so long to decide what she’d do about the situation, but now it’s clear for her. She is _not_ going to sit around and do nothing. She is _not_ going to pretend like nothing’s happening.

“Archie, I’m sorry, but can we call it a day off?” she asks him, her determination betraying her feelings, her feelings that says she _needs_ him by her side.

He looks at her for a beat, what feels like an eternity to her, and says, “Yeah, sure. But you don’t look good, so tell me what’s wrong.”

“Not now, please. Just, I promise I’ll tell you everything later, but please, Archie, just leave me alone for now”, she pleads, but regrets her words immediately as she sees his face drop. She closes her eyes because she doesn’t to see Archie’s sad face, but the darkness her eyelids gives her only brings back the image of his face the night at the White Wyrm.

_Close your eyes to not see what you don’t want to see._

What a big fucking lie.

“Right, okay. I’ll walk you back”, he offers, his tone still concerned about her.

She doesn’t want him anywhere near the Pembrooke for now, so she says as she takes out her phone, “No, no need, I’ll call Andre to come pick you up”, punching the dial on her driver’s number.

They wait in awkward silence for Andre to come, and come he did a minute later. She opens the door for Archie, who looks at her again before getting inside.

“I’m sorry, Archie. I promise I’ll make it up to you”, she says, trying her best to channel all the raw honesty and emotions to her words

And maybe he gets them as he smiles, “Yeah, you better”, but they fade away quick, “But listen, you don’t have to keep everything to yourself, you know, you can talk to me. Even though I got amnesia, I’d totally try to understand what you’re going through, Ronnie.”

She crumbles internally at the nickname, the nights when she couldn’t sleep coming back to her suddenly, when somehow her anxiety at her father’s shady behavior took over her. She remembers exactly how Archie would hold on to her gently, yet she felt the weight of his arms could protect her from anything, how he would caress her lightly, whispering _Ronnie_ against her forehead, assuring her that her would be by her side and everything would eventually be alright.

Why was she so stupid to let him _go_?

“Yeah, I know”, she stammers, a lump in her throat that’s so hard to swallow. A fleeting look shared between them, the door closes, and the car speeds out of sight later, Veronica was left standing alone, Archie’s word echoing through her head. _You don’t have to keep everything to yourself._ But not when the secrets are about someone’s life and the safety of this small town. She turns around and sprints back to the Pembrooke, her thoughts blocking out all voices.

***

She wasn’t surprised when she found no one at home. She guessed she kind of already knew that it was a false alarm, but she also knew that she didn’t run back to the Pembrooke to burst through her father’s office, catch him discussing crazy evil plans with the Serpents and yell _Ha, caught you red-handed! Knew it all along!_ , the way it’s done in the movies she watched (she really does want to do it one day). Her fingers trace the pieces of furniture in the living room, as she paces around aimlessly, her mind running furiously. She knew she came back so she could’ve a peace of mind. Nothing like the brooding silence of the Pembrooke to allow her thoughts to flourish.

She has to thank the Serpents that passed by her, really. If it wasn’t for them, she wouldn’t have had a final decision on the situation. The first time she heard it, she tried to brush it away. The second it was brought to her attention, she makes an excuse. The third time, in the third day in a row, she is reminded of it again. She was sure that it was some message from God or the universe telling her to not ignore the shit that’s happening in her father’s study. But she wants to scream at the unfairness at it all. Why is Archie her _problem_ as well? Why would the universe put so much stress and pain on her at once, like _are you fucking serious, universe?_ She really needs to have a sit down and talk face to face with the one that is writing her destiny and planning the inevitable pain that’s is eventually coming for her. _Asshole_.

But she starts to feel guilty as she thinks of Archie as a problem. It wasn’t his fault at all, getting the amnesia, and falling into her responsibility. Whose fault this is, then? Yeah, the same guy who’s fucking her life up. And just as much as she wants to help Archie get his memories back, bring back the familiar smiles on everyone’s face, she just couldn’t how she would do it. Her mind already feels like she’s under the Mariana Trench, all the pressure due to the secrets, fears, anger that she’s keeping in, she couldn’t how would she help Archie and solve her father’s mystery at the same time.

 She sighs loudly as she sinks into an armchair, contemplating at how fucked everything is, and despite that, she still wants to do something about it. She has to decide between Archie or her father now. Her father’s plans includes a life, fucking Jughead’s, and she couldn’t see why it’s so hard for her to decide. And Archie’s include getting his memories back and making everyone happy again, except her obviously. The difference is appalling, as she realizes how problematic her father’s schemes was. So why can’t she decide it yet? Maybe because she loved Archie so much, that she’d do anything, even if she ignored someone else’s life? No, no way. Veronica can never do that. Jughead was her friend, and she cares about him deeply, and he matters to everyone, to his family, to the Serpents, and especially to Betty.

Archie can wait, because she really needs to do something about her father. She needs to tie all lose ends and end all of this once and for all. What the heck, she does sound dramatic, even in her own head.

“Wait for me, Archie”, she whispers to herself.

She jumps as her phone rings in her pocket, the vibration chilling her thigh bones. She takes it out to see Betty calling her.

“Hey, B”, she says as she answers.

“Hey, V. Do you want to grab something to eat at Pop’s? I invited Jughead but he says he’s busy, so I’m alone and I need some girl company?”

“Yeah, sure, I’ll see you there in 5”, she replies instantly, her mind registering the fact that Jughead being busy could mean something foreboding.

 ***

Pop Tate slides a plate of pancakes and two strawberry milkshakes as Veronica slid into Betty’s booth. They both thank Pop’s with bright smiles. Veronica, not bothering to even utter a word, cuts a piece of pancake and munches on it immediately, groaning from the flavor that bursts through her taste buds, relinquishing her hunger.

Betty giggles, “Hungry, aren’t you?”

“Famished. I haven’t eaten anything since morning”, she replies, her mouth full of pancakes and milkshake.

“Been running with Archie?” Betty asks innocently. Veronica ignores the glint in her eyes sheepishly.

She swallows and starts, “Yeah”, but she did not elaborate further, not wanting to talk about Archie, so she starts nonchalantly, “So, did Jughead tell you why he was busy?”

Betty shrugs, sipping on her milkshake, “He said he’s helping the Serpents arrange Pickens’ Day, apparently. But don’t try to steer away the conversation. How’s Archie?”

Realizing defeat, Veronica mutters, “He’s alright.”

“What do you mean alright?” Betty scoffs, but smiles, “Is there something more to this? Because you better tell me all, V, and you know I can’t pretend to not notice the sparks flying between both of you at the hospital.”

“He has amnesia for God’s sake.”

“I know, V”, Betty sighs as she reaches out a hand to cover Veronica’s, “But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be happy. We both know Archie was hurt from the break up, and you as well. And now he doesn’t remember anything, maybe you could work it out aga –”

 Veronica cuts her off, “And then what, be with him when he actually never forgave me for breaking his heart?”

“I’m sure he already did, V, even if he did not tell you. And I’m not telling you to get directly into his pants, sorry for the directness, but he’s going to find out about the relationship sooner or later”, Betty says, looking at her with bright round green eyes.

“I ran away from him this morning”, Veronica blurts out, not being able to keep it in any longer, the reason she was feeling the guilt when her best friend advices her on getting him back.  She watches as Betty’s eyes grows impossibly larger.

“Oh my God, V, what happened? Why?” Betty exclaims, gripping her hands tighter.

Veronica swallows again as she feels the pressure from Betty’s hands restricting the blood flow, but it’s oddly relieving, making it easier for her to talk.

“I-I think my father is doing something again, I don’t know what, but I’m trying to figure it out”, she says, not making eye contact with Betty, because she could’ve seen the fear in her eyes. Also her eyes could give away that her father _doing something_ is Serpent related, and she couldn’t tell anyone that yet.

“So that’s why you ran from Archie? I’m so sorry, V”, Betty says, her soft sweet understanding voice soothing her nerves.

“And how did Archie react when you suddenly bailed on him. Did you tell him why?” she continues.

Veronica shakes her head, “Of course, I didn’t. But he reacted like Archie would. Worried about me, wants to care for me, tried to comfort me”, she gives a dry chuckle as Betty grins giddily.

She continues, “And you can’t tell anyone about this yet, B. Keep it a secret for me please.”

“Definitely”, Betty nods fervently.

They sit quietly together, the food in front of them half-finished as both of them lost their appetite. Veronica watches silently as she lets Betty draw circles with her fingers on the back of her hand. It was somewhat reassuring, something that tells her that B&V would be together even through this, would be strong, like they’ve always been.

“So you can’t help Archie now that you’re trying to figure out you father’s problems”, Betty asks softly.

Veronica grimaces as the guilt builds inside of her again, “Yeah, it’s going to take most of my time, and it’s got me all over my head, B.”

“I don’t think you should do that, Veronica.”

She looks up to see Betty observing her with concerned eyes.

“What do you mean?”

Betty sighs, “I know you need time to figure out the nefarious schemes your father is planning, but you need to spend time with Archie. Just as much as everyone says that Archie needs your help, I don’t think that’s true.”

“So what’s true?” Veronica asks, although she pretty much knows the answer.

Betty smiles, “You both need each other. And even the fact that Archie doesn’t remember anything, I think you need him. His presence would be enough to make smile your brightest smile. You can do anything when he’s by your side, and you are strongest when he’s supporting you, you know that, V.”

And it’s true, it was all true. Archie makes her feel like she’s on top of the world, like she’s capable of overcoming any mountains, not alone, but with him. He’s been with her through all bad, sleepless nights, through all her horrible, dark days. They’ve through the highest of highs and the lowest of lows, and they made past it, as they were each other’s constant. And there’s another mountain for them to overcome, different for both of them but the highest they’ve encountered, and she’s sure Archie won’t make past it, and neither would she. No, they would make it past only _together._

Veronica smiles as it all comes to place for her, and feels a rush of gratitude for her best friend, tears welling up in her eyes, “Thanks a lot, B.”

“Always, V.”

***

“It’s okay, Ronnie”, Archie says, shaking his head slightly as she follows him into his room, after apologizing hurriedly when she saw his face. Apparently, he also was okay with her spending less time as she had to help her father arrange Pickens’ Day, partly because she promised to make it up later, or because she also asked him to help her as well, so he could spend time with her this way instead.

Veronica nods gratefully at him, who smiles back at her before sitting on the edge of his bed. She notices the guitar propped against his pillows on the bed, the pick lying on the floor. She imagined that he’d probably dropped in it a hurry to answer the door.

“So, are you starting to play the guitar again?” she asks him as she makes way to his desk, leaning against it as she observes his eyes travelling all over her body.

Archie clears his throat, “Uh, yeah, but it’s quite hard. I literally don’t remember anything, and I’m still wondering how I actually ever played it”, he chuckles embarrassingly, rubbing his neck as he looks somewhere else. She could admit she was relieved that his eyes were not her anymore, not that she was complaining, but the tension was palpable enough to melt the room down.

“You were really good, though”, she tells him as she picks the guitar from the bed and tried to strum a few chords herself. She succeeded with a _G, Em, Am, D,_ and somehow she starts to pick up rhythm, starts to play the few chords on repeat. She stops to see Archie looking surprised as she felt, because she never she could even do that. Guessed the nights spent with this lover boy singing for her did not go to waste.

“Wow, I didn’t know you could play this well”, Archie exclaims, his mouth opened in awe.

She feels her cheeks warming from the small compliments of his, and puts the guitar aside, “I’ve got nothing on you. I actually learned how to play all of this from you, you know.”

“From me?” he seems taken back, curiosity on his face clearly there.

“Yeah, you used to play to me all these songs you’ve written and some covers”, she says, looking anywhere else except at him, who she imagined is now awestruck with himself.

“I have songs I wrote? Wow”, he muses aloud, as Veronica laughs at his expression, “Why do I used to play my songs to you in particular?” he questions jokingly, she could tell, but there was something else in his tone that suggests he really needed to know something.

She makes eye contact with him, brushes her hair behind her ears and sighs, “I guess you felt comfortable singing all your insecurities you wrote, you know. All those lyrics about how hard homework gets, and miserable you’d be when you’d lose a basketball game.”

She dodges the pillow he throws at her, and joins him as he laughs like an idiot.

“I see it, why I would feel comfortable with you”, he says, laughter still in his voice, “But what did I write about really?”

Veronica ponders in her mind as she tries to remember the lyrics he sang to her while she played his hair, or while she had her arms wrapped around his neck, nuzzling into his side of his, feeling the rumbling from his throat as he sang the words written for her. And it wasn’t hard, the lyrics came back to her like the sun would eventually rise again.

“You wrote about many things, but mostly about a girl”, she says, eyeing his reaction. He raises an innocent eyebrow, as he laughs silently, his shoulder shaking that seemed to send ripples throughout his back muscles, and even though she couldn’t see it, she knew it would.

_Empty lakes, empty streets_

_The sun goes down alone_

_I’m driving by your house_

“Who was the girl?”

_I can see you_

_Your brown skin shining in the sun_

_Your hair combed back_

 “I don’t quite remember the lyrics, but I guess she must have been really important to you. You said your love for her will still be strong.”

“Oh, that was neat. Yeah, I guess she is.”

_I can tell you my love for you will still be strong_

_After the boys of summer, have gone_

“Yeah, she is”, Veronica mutters, her head lost in the lyrics that made her reminiscence again, her eyes strangely prickling around the corners. She swallows as she forces the tears back.

“You should teach me how to play, you know”, Archie perks up, seemingly oblivious to her change of mood.

She smiles, “Archie, I –”

“Please, Ronnie, I mean, if I thought you before, you should teach me as well. Payback time, girl”, he says, smiling giddily.

She can’t help but agree to the fluttering in her chest, and to him. She knew she can’t ever say no to him, not with the boyish grin on his face.

“Fine, but not now, I have to go back and help my dad arrange Pickens’ day”, she sighs, but giggles at his triumphant reaction.

“Thanks a lot, Ronnie.”

“It’s the least I could do, Archiekins.”

***

Veronica paces around the living room, waiting for her father to come out of his study. Her head snaps around as she hears the door open, and Hiram comes out, looking as impeccable and forbidden as ever.

“Daddy”, she approaches him before he could say a word.

“ _Mija,_ what’s the matter?” her father asks.

She chooses her words carefully and puts on an apologetic smile, “Daddy, I’m so sorry about my reaction yesterday, it was so inappropriate, I should not have shouted at you like that, and –”

Her father cuts her off as he puts both hands of his on her shoulder, “I cannot blame you, _mija_ , you had every right to be angry. I kept a secret from you, and I shouldn’t have. We established that no more secrets will be held from each other, I’m so sorry, _mija.”_

She tries to ignore the irony, and forces the sarcasm out of her voice, “Right, now that we are both clear on that, Daddy, I want to help you arrange Pickens’ Day.”

She waits for the bomb to drop, as she expects her father to reject her offer, giving her pointless excuses that her involvement would be unnecessary, that should she spend more time helping Archie, thus confirming that he is _definitely_ planning something.

But her expectations fall far from short as her father smiles widely, “That’d be great, _mija._ You know I need all the hands I could get right. I was also going to ask you to perform with the Pussycats on stage, but I guess that would be too much to ask, _mija_?”

His face was so expectant that she could not say no, “Of course not, Daddy, I’d be more than happy to perform”, she exclaims, trying to mask the disappointment with her excitement.

“Thank you, _mija_ ”, he smiles, and he walks to his room after his _happy_ eyes linger on her.

Veronica blows through her teeth, seething as her father disappears into the room. She curses inwardly, because the blow was low key annoying. She expected her father to say no, but he _fucking happily_ accepted her help. She runs a hand through her hair in frustration, trying to get rid the images of his eyes, which just seemed like he was a proud father, appallingly different from yesterday’s glint in his eyes. This makes it look he’s not doing anything wrong, and she has no evidence that he’s planning something for Pickens’ Day. Except the conversation she heard that night, that was the only concrete evidence she had, but who in the world would believe her? She need to find more proof, something more than words, and no better person to do that with when she takes out her phone and calls Jughead.

“Hey, Veronica”, he says.

“Hey, Jug, where are you?” she speaks as silently as she could.

“At the trailer, why, what’s up?”

“I need to see you, do you mind?”

“Oh, no I don’t, thanks for buying me burgers in advance.”

Veronica laughs, “Um, actually, I want to see you at the trailer. Is anyone there?”

“Oh, okay, I’m alone. But bring burgers on your way as well.”

She rolls her eyes as she hangs up. She calls an Uber as going with Andre is too risky, she doesn’t want anyone to know she’s visiting Jughead, especially her dad. She asks the driver to stop by Pop’s to Jughead's two burgers.

“I was joking about the burgers”, Jughead says later, as she walks into the trailer, and drops the bag on the coffee table. He takes one out and starts unwrapping it all the same.

“What, you brought me a trap here, Veronica”, he mutters darkly as he sits down and notices her raised eyebrows.

‘Well, eat up, because I have some serious shit to tell you, and I need you to be physically prepared”, she tells him nonetheless.

Ten minutes later found Jughead lying his head back, his mouth open as he probably tries to process the news Veronica delivers him, two wrappers lying around his feet. Usually, when a person gets the horrible news, they lose their appetite, but not in Jughead’s case, because his appetite doubles. At least the burgers are one problem gone they have to worry about.

“Shit. That’s fucked up”, he mutters after a while.

“Welcome to my life”, she chuckles.

Jughead didn’t seem to be in a mood to joke anymore, as he sits up straighter, the scowl on his face clearly pronounceable.

“Are you sure about you heard?” he asks her for the umpteenth time.

She rolls her eyes for the umpteenth time as well, “Yes, I did, Jug.”

“I have no idea what they could be talking about, do you?”

“Probably about someone my dad’s making some deal with, and he wants to use your father for that _deal_ ”, she assumes darkly.

“And my dad just agreed to whatever they were talking about?”

She swallows, “He seemed reluctant at first, but I guessed he did, because otherwise Hiram Lodge would not be looking so happy.”

She left her father’s threat out, because she was sure Jughead wouldn’t be able to handle the news calmly and not act impulsively, and partly because if she says it out loud, it would just kill her to admit her father’s willingness to take a _life_  (even though it already did).

Jughead sighs as he runs his hand over his head, the beanie falling away as the dark locks of his hair falls over his forehead, “God damn it. Don’t you want to do something about this?”

“Of course I do, Jug, but what could I do alone”, she tells him ludicrously.

He smirks, “Then let me rephrase it. Don’t _we_ want to do something about this?”

Veronica smiles mischievously, “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

Jughead stands up suddenly and breaks into a long stretch, “Even though me and Betty are the popular detective couple, it’s nothing compared to cracking some egg shells with the sophisticated New York girl.”

“Why? Is it because I’m a dark, brooding mystery?” she jokes.

He stares at her for a beat, then agrees by nodding, “You know, you might be that, Lodge. But I guess we’re back in business, huh?”

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys I’m baaaack. Miss me? Lol just kidding. I’m having a break between the 22nd till the 7th (of June, obviously) and was planning to write and update on the 24th but I wasn’t feeling really inspired, and plus, I was hanging out with my best friends because one of them is going for a vacation soon and I’m going to miss him. But anyways, I guess I was feeling inspired just yesterday, so here’s chapter 4. If you like it, please leave a kudos, and as always, your comments MEAN everything to me. See you soon!  
> The song of Archie Ronnie was remembering is The Boys of Summer by Don Henley!  
> Ps. this chapter is unbeta’d so forgive me for the mistakes! and if you want to interact with me go find me on tumblr @theravenhairedprince :))


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys I’m back with another chapter, and I hope to take some of your precious time to read this long ass note. First of all, I want to apologize for how long this took. Even though I said there was a break, I underestimated time and half the break was over and I had to start studying for my chemistry paper, but chemistry is cool so I was able to write a bit every now and then. And I realized I exceeded 10K words just reaching halfway with what I’ve planned for chapter 5. So I decided to separate it into 2 parts. Part 2 (or chapter 6 if you wish) will be ready only after the 11th, as it’s going be my last paper that day. Thank you for all the comments last chapter, really love them they make me so happy and without further ado, go ahead and read chapter 5, and do tell me what you think of this chapter!  
> Song at the beginning is Lover is A Day by Cuco, best seven minutes I’ve spent. find me on tumblr @theravenhairedprince to see how I'm progressing with each chapter or just to chill and look at the memes i reblog

**_ Part I _ **

_I’ll take the bumpy road, it’ll probably break my leg_

_As long as I don’t show you what’s ruining my head_

_Funny thing about you is you read me pretty well_

 

Lost in the soft music played by the crappy bar’s speakers, Veronica lays on the couch as she hears Jughead groans in frustration for the millionth time in an hour. She picks up her head to see him scratching his head furiously on the lone armchair, a laptop on his laps, blowing long angry breaths. Her head falls back, slightly sinking into the soft cushion, as she resumes the dead pan stare at the White Wyrm’s ceiling. Her mind was whirring like an iron furnace working at full power, as she searches her brain for something that would make sense, but who the fuck she’s kidding? _The world never makes sense, does it?_ she thought.

“Yeah, it doesn’t.”

She picks up her head and looks at Jughead again, “What?”

He takes his eyes off the screen to roll it at her, “You said that the world didn’t make sense.”

“Oh”, she realized she said her thoughts _literally_ aloud.

He sighs, “Get up, Lodge. You laying down and complaining about life isn’t encouraging me at all. In fact, it makes me want to join you and curse everything together.”

She laughs as she picks a plastic cup from the floor and threw it at him, who swats it back at her. They both sit there throwing stuff at each other, acting like idiots, achieving nothing but weird looks from Serpents passing by.

“Stop, stop. Enough”, she giggles as she sits up. She dodges one last crumpled paper ball thrown at her, and resists the urge to throw it back at him, but something in her mind clicks. Come to think it, the past two days she was trying figure out what could’ve happened while she was gone, she never looked at anything that could’ve happened when she _came back_. She frowns as she ponders about her father’s partner’s visit on the day she came back from Venice. She remembered Hiram saying _they,_ and it could’ve been about the partners, considering he could’ve also just left the meeting when he came home that night with FP. Why didn’t she think the conversation could’ve actually started that night?

“God, I’m such an idiot”, she mutters, reflecting her own thoughts as she runs a hand through her hair. The silky feeling sends a tingling sensation from her fingertips up to her necks, erupting goosebumps on her forearm for no apparent reason. Her mind strangely revisits the memories of her hand running through some certain _red_ hair. What the fuck, she doesn’t need _that_ now.

She curses herself, “Oh, fuck me.”

Jughead starts to laugh, “What now, are we going to criticize ourselves now? You know that I’d beat you in that easily.”

“Yeah, you would, I know you’ve always been a self-deprecating beanie-addicted boy”, she mumbles but continues before he could argue about the benefits and list his ’15 top things my Beanie/Crown does’, “Listen, Jug, I just remembered.”

He shuts down his laptop, puts it aside with a grimace, and looks up at her, indicating her to go on.

“The night I came back, my mom said that my dad was trying to make a deal with some of his partners from New York. They wanted 25% of SoDale at first but my dad didn’t agree so my mom told me he’s trying to cut, um, a fair deal? Plus, they also threatened him, you know, when he didn’t agree.”

“What did they threatened him with?”

“My life. And my mom’s”, she says, trying not to make it sound so grim, even though it pretty much was.

“Woah, that sucks. I’m sorry, Lodge”, he mutters.

She waves it off, “It doesn’t matter. My dad probably has the whole house on lock down. What I’m trying to say, my dad was probably with the partners that night I overheard the conversation, so I’d think whatever he has going on with your dad correlates with his partners as well.”

“Yeah, makes sense. So you think the ‘fair deal’ is a plan your dad is plotting?” he says.

“Yeah”, she nods.

“Do you have any idea who his partners were?” he asks, fidgeting with his fingers.

She shakes her head, feeling downtrodden, “No, I don’t. God, why didn’t I just ask my mother?”

Jughead stands up suddenly, which startles her.

“Like she would tell you who they were”, he mutters darkly before taking off for the bar. She watches him as he gets a drink from the bar and walked back and forth from the bar to the pool table, his eyes glassy due to being absorbed in his own thoughts as he sipped from whatever the glass contained every now and then. She was tempted to ask for one like his, because she was sure the drink was an excelsior that took his soul somewhere else, leaving his body strolling aimlessly. After a straight five minutes of him walking around, occasionally bumping into someone, she grabbed the crumpled paper from the floor and threw it at his head. He yelps and comes out of his reverie, looking around confusingly.

Veronica asks him, trying to keep laughter off her voice, “What the hell are you drinking? Essence of Getting Real High? Because you really did look like it, and I want some of it.”

He laughs, “Nah, it’s just my special drink, I’ll get you some.”

He comes back with two glasses, passes her one as he sits down with a new one of his, seemingly drawn back into his thoughts. She looks at him then looks at the drink, which was a fizzing semi-opaque, turquois color. It smelled sweet, fragrant, and something that quite reminds her of better bright blue (nothing to do with its color) days. Feeling strangely daring, she takes a sip. Her nerves explode from the fizzy sweetness as the liquid sloshes her taste buds, and it burns in a pleasant way as it hits the back of her throat. She could feel the aftershock of the liquid send waves rippling through her brain, and it makes her feel like she’s a helium balloon.

She groans as she gulps more, “Forsythe Pendleton Jones the Third, do tell me the secrets of concocting this heavenly out-of-this-realm drink.”

He chokes on his drinks as he laughs, and she joins him, laughing loudly, probably due to the drink that was affecting them in ways it should, or probably that’s the only thing teenagers could do to forget about the horrible things that are going to happen soon, or is happening around them.

“It’s a secret, I can’t tell anyone about. Plus, the ingredients are rare. One of them is a flower that’s found in the middle of the Sahara Desert and it has to be picked when the two suns in the sky align with the moon and causes a double lunar eclipse”, he explains, trying to keep a straight face.

She giggles as she puts the empty glass down, “We’re not on Tatooine, Jughead.”

“Binary star systems don’t only exist in Star Wars”, he sighs as the laughter subsides, “Huh, but don’t be disappointed when I tell what it’s actually made of.”

“Why would I be disappointed? This is drink is amazing”, she scoffs.

He looks at her apologetically before saying, “Well, it’s just actually blue Gatorade, cream soda and vodka.”

They stared at each other for a minute before bursting into fits of hysterical laughter. She grabs her stomach as the pain from laughing so much cramps the muscles of her belly.

She wipes a tear from her eyes, hiccupping, “I can’t believe the mixture hasn’t killed us yet, you know.”

“Maybe it already had, you know, and we’re already in heaven”, he says, sitting up straighter in his seat.

She shakes her head, “All right, cut the grimness, Holden Caulfield. So are you going to tell me what were you thinking while you spent straight five minutes high on the drink?”

“I was thinking”, he says as he gulps down the last drops of his drink and puts down the glass with a clunk, “that over the years of crime history in Riverdale, it’s usually drugs. About 90%. Just drug trafficking, and other stuff, drugs always being the motive. Hiram’s plan could be about drugs as well.”

“Yeah, I can tell. But you already told me about this yesterday”, she agrees, trying not to ooze much irony in her voice.

He continues like as if he didn’t hear her remark, “The Serpents and the Ghoulies were always involved in it. The difference is that the Ghoulies enjoyed doing it, we don’t.”

She still couldn’t see his point. She blames the drink for making her hazy and her brain partly functional, “What are you trying to say?”

“What I’m trying to say is that this could be a ploy Hiram is using to get rid of the Serpents, you know, a drug trap, because he seems to like the money coming from drug trafficking. And I mean, we haven’t been his biggest fans, after he made us fall back to the habit we were trying to get rid. And he doesn’t like us much either, because our presence is the only thing stopping him from turning the Southside to a fully drug infested palace.”

“But how does this help him with his partner’s problems? The only thing the Serpents have in common with his partners is that he wants to get rid of them both?” she asks.

“Yeah, but we don’t know whether the fair deal succeeded or no. Also, if we rule this as a drug trafficking, it just doesn’t make sense if he wants the Serpents to start drug trafficking, how it would it help him get rid of us? If he sells my dad out, wouldn’t it just go back to him as well?” he says, making a face.

“My dad has all these powerful lawyers from the Lodge industries, and plus, a whole lot of money backing him up. But what about the partners of his then? Where do they fall into?” she says.

They sit pondering in the silence, absorbed in their own thoughts. How does her dad’s partners and the Serpents correlate on drug trafficking?

“Unless…”, Jughead mumbles.

She asks, “Unless what?”

He looks up at her, “Maybe these partners of his could be the one dealing with my dad? Like your father could be possibly setting my dad up with his partners, so he could expose both his partners and my dad, thus the exposé coming back to the Serpents, getting rid of all his enemies effectively? I mean, we don’t have such a good history anyways, one more exposed drug dealing could blow us up.”

“That is a perfect scenario. But what do we have to tell us that it’s drug trafficking? Our words and Riverdale’s conspicuous crime history?” she says, frowning.

“Ugh, it’s not much, but it’s the only lead we have now”, he says, sighing like he was defeated.

Veronica leans back on the couch as she looks at the ceiling again, trying to resume the blank stare but her mind was working like a steam train. People would see steam coming out of her ears, if it was possible, and she chuckles aloud at the stupid idea.

“Is it funny that we’re fucked up?” Jughead asks gloomily.

She turns to look at him, but her line of sight passes him as she sees Fangs Fogarty on the bar’s only computer, scrolling nonchalantly at something she can’t see from such a distance.

“Hey, Jughead. Do you think your father would’ve told someone about this?”

He snorts, “He hasn’t told me, why’d you think he would tell others? And everybody in the Serpents are done with any business that involves the Lodges. Not you, though”, he adds apologetically

She waves the apology dismissively, lost in her thoughts, “Right, and if your dad is doing whatever he’s doing alone, someway, somehow he needs info slash help whatever along those lines, right? At least in my knowledge, before people do the drug exchange, they research about the person they’re dealing with, search for any hints of the person’s reliability, or whether he has the knack to give stuff away”, she explains, the haze of the drink slowly fading away, the liquid finally exiting her bloodstreams.

Jughead has his eyes fixed on hers, his frown showing his undivided attention as he teases, “Knowing this much, I guess Veronica Lodge is finally giving some of her time to more of the crime genre. What happened to reading _In Cold Blood_ for the thousandth time in a row?”

She laughs, knowing that he never misses a chance to tease her, “Please, _In Cold_ Blood is truly of a work of masterpiece and c’mon, it’s the 21st century, Jug, I need to branch out a bit. Netflix’s got an awful lot of great crime series in 4K, so sometimes I don’t have to bother myself reading or watching 70 mm films.”

He snorts indignantly at her jab, “Excuse me, even though it was a part of the 21st century, _The Hateful Eight_ is also a masterpiece, orchestrated by miracles of Quentin Tarantino’s directing. Don’t you ever dare compare the magnificent superiority of the golden days to the shallow inferior stories of grim today.”

She scoffs, “Oh wow, calm down, Dickinson the thesaurus edition. What is it with you that you can’t accept the modern beauty of filmography?”

“Beauty? Yeah, some of them are good, but compared to those days? They lack the depth! The plots are too direct, the lines are so pointedly obvious and the endings are just endings!” he complains to her, wringing his hands in frustrations. Apparently, she turned a tease of snarky comment into an all-out debate of today’s imperfect cinematography according to Jughead Jones. Trust him not to back down, she amuses.

“Well, what else do you want endings to be if not endings?” she asks, trying to keep a serious argumentative tone.

“I know endings are endings, but have you ever watched an ending that’ll leave you thinking about it, like, for forever? That’s where the depth comes in you know? The indirectness of the plots, the way they’re told leaves it meaningless, but yet quite understandable at the same time, and can be interpreted in many levels. There’s no better comfort than to let your imagination run wild, and –”

“Alright, alright, can we actually go back to what’s important?” she interrupts him laughing.

He pretends to look offended, “Did you just stop me from pouring out all my teenage irritation at how America’s developing and explaining how the world should be revolving according to my moral ambiguity?”

“Oh, Jug, I’d gladly listened to your rants any other day, and floor you so badly with my unforgiving counter points, but we sort of have other problems right now”, she chuckles.

He clears his throat, “Yeah, so whatever you’ve said, it’s true. The making sure of confidentiality, that is usually done with the people on the side that is involved, but my dad doesn’t have anyone so he’d rely on the internet.”

“Yeah, and he doesn’t have a personal laptop to do that, does he?” she says slowly. Both of them turned towards the computer at the back of the bar, where Fangs is still using. They get up at the same time and ran towards the computer (or actually walked as fast as they could due to cramp space in the back area of the bar).

“Your dad doesn’t know how to delete history, does he?” she says, her voice breathy.

He replies like he thinks she won’t get it, “All guys know how to.”

It turns her red as she laughs, because she does get the joke.

They reach Fangs, who yelps and turns around with surprise when Jughead taps him on the shoulder.

“Jughead, Veronica”, he stands up and observes them with panicked eyes. He shifts around as his whole body was covering the monitor, and she doesn’t miss the gesture, frowning.

“Hey, Fangs. Do you mind if we use the computer, it’s kind of an emergency”, Jughead explains to his friend, oblivious to his fidgeting.

Fangs stutters defensively, “Um, I’m kind of busy as well.”

Jughead seems taken back, “Fangs is busy? What are you doing? Homework? I – Wait, why are you blocking the screen from our view?”

“No, I’m not, Jug, fuck off, dude –”

Fangs wasn’t able to speak as Jughead wins a momentarily wrestle and pushes him out of the way.

She could feel her face burning as the screen comes to view, and she could hear Jughead’s jaw drop to the floor as Fangs groans dramatically.

Apparently, Fangs was just doing his stuff, not anything fishy Veronica had in mind. Nothing in her wildest dream in fact, but yet she doesn’t know why she’s surprised to find him browsing on _Grindr_. He was gay, and he was just succumbing to his nature, and honestly, could she blame him? The guys on display were _infuriatingly_ hot, nothing on Archie though, and thanks to him, she’s lost track of her thoughts again.

Jughead whispers, “Dude, I’m so _fucking_ sorry.”

“Ugh, it’s alright”, Fangs shakes his head as he bends over to the monitor and closes the tab, “Just delete that from the history bar for me. And don’t tell anyone, or I’ll fucking kill you.”

He walks away without another word, leaving her and Jughead trying to keep their faces straight (pun not intended) and act like nothing’s happened.

“Right, so where were we?” Jughead says loudly, his eyebrows raised high to indicate he’s seen nothing. He sits down on the chair, as Veronica sits on table next to the monitor. She watches him as he opens Chrome, holds _CTRL_ and then presses _H_ on the keyboard.

“July the 30th, right?” he asks her. She nods at him as he scrolls to the mentioned date, the date she came back to Riverdale.

He shakes his head, “Nothing.”

She turns away grimacing, “God damn it. Why was I even expectant? It’s like these people dealing drugs are stupid to leave things lying around.”

“Actually.”

She turns back to him to see him grinning like a 5 year old, “What?”

Cracking his knuckles, he sits up straighter in the chair, and types something indistinctive to her as an application unfamiliar pops up on the screen. He types a bit more and a green bar appears to indicate whatever he ordered is loading. At least, that’s what her limited knowledge of technology tells her.

She waits for him to explain whatever that he’s doing, and when he doesn’t, just staring silently at the screen, she clears her throat. He shakes himself out his reverie.

“Right, sorry. So after the likes of Tall Boy, the guy who is always keen to betray my father and wreak havoc came to my knowledge, I don’t trust anyone in the Serpents who hang around with him, and that’s a lot of them who does. Even though it doesn’t help that much, I installed a key logger in this computer, just so I know what they’re up to”, he raises a hand before she could interrupt, “I know it’s an invasion of privacy, but I try to look up only on the days I see them actually use it, and I don’t look up the days Fangs or Sweet Pea uses it, God already knows what I’d find. But being well aware of what the guys I don’t trust search, that somehow relieves me, you know. And bingo!”

The application finished loading and Veronica reflects on his words as he enters the date. She knows what he’s talking about, of course. The feeling of comfort and safety, or the _relief_ when you know what’s at least going on. She misses that a lot, because it’s been a while since she last knew what goes on behind that study of her father. She was pulled out of her thoughts as Jughead exclaims indignantly.

“What?” she asks him again.

“So, nothing on the date you mentioned, but the next day has these keystrokes. Note them down. Oh wait, we have Word here. Right.”

She watches him do his job as he switches from application to application, copying the keystrokes. He tells her as he pastes the last keystroke, “Okay, so the keystrokes are P, I, C, K, E, N, S, then apostrophe and its Pickens Day obviously. And after that is quotation marks, L, E, M, O, N, quotation marks again, and then the word history. That’s the only keystrokes of the day apparently.”

He turns to look at her, “Pickens Day? Doesn’t make sense, if they want to exchange drugs, why Pickens Day?”

“If only it’s about drug dealing, that is. We don’t know for sure yet, Jughead, my dad could have other evil plans on his mind”, she says, shrugging. But she stills asks herself the same question Jughead did. Why Pickens Day?

“What is it about Pickens Day anyways? And why does my father wants to celebrate it with the Serpents?” she questions him. He turns back to the monitor and searches for _Pickens Day_.

He reads from the screen, “The day Riverdale was found by General Pickens, apparently? How come that I’ve lived all of my life here and I’ve never heard of it? Oh, wait, there’s an extension. Oh, okay, it says it’s the day when General Pickens signs a peace treaty with the Uktena, now known as the Serpents, because they were at war, obviously”, he sighs before continuing, “I still don’t see any peace between the Northside and Southside though, we’re still at each other’s throats, fueled by my girlfriend’s lovely mother.”

She shakes her head, “So my dad wants to celebrate the day, encouraging a more uniting front of Riverdale. I thought you said he hated the Serpents?”

“If you have an enemy, doesn’t mean you won’t smile at him/her”, he says wisely.

Slamming a hand on the table that startled a passing by Serpent, who scowls at her, and she looks at him apologetically before turning back to Jughead, whispering “But I don’t see how this could be related to his partners. What is my dad planning, a united army up against the forces of New York mobsters?”

He laughs nervously, “Don’t say that, I don’t want to imagine your dad having the Serpents on the front line, being the sacrificial unit.”

She shakes her head again, sighs, “What about the other keystrokes? Lemon and history?”

“I don’t think that’s important. It doesn’t make any sense”, he says but raises his hands in surrender as she glares at him, “Fine, fine, let me search for lemon. Right, the first result is a link to “15 amazing benefits of lemon”, and wow, I never knew that lemon’s full name is actually ‘Lemon Citrus Osbeck’, doesn’t beat mine thou – _ouch!_ ”

He exclaims as Veronica swats him with back of her hand, and then starts laughing, which also made her laugh, “Can’t you be serious for God’s sake. Search it like how it was searched!”

“Fine, fine”, he agrees, saying aloud the letters he types and hits the enter key, “Wow, okay, that’s weird. Why would ‘LEMON history’ give a search result of many news articles? Let’s see what New York Times says”, he clicks on the mentioned link and reads aloud the title, _”A Drug Tale worthy of Escobar: Three found dead and two police officers injured during gunfight_. What a way to start a drug crime. It says that Lemon here, is a suspect.”

She slaps a hand on the table, “I knew it.”

“You knew?” he looks at her confusingly.

“Lemon is a mobster name”, she explains

Jughead laughs but stops at her expression, “Seriously, what kind of mobster name is that? Is that supposed to scare people?”

She shrugs, “Not all mob names necessarily scare people. And if a person uses such a stupid, funny name, he must be really powerful, you know, not scared of getting reprimanded or some sort, I guess.”

“Oh, this reminds of the Sugarman”, he shivers, as she remembers his English teacher in the Southside High School was actually the Sugarman, the Jingle Jangle supplier. A drug supplier named Sugarman, and a drug mobster named LEMON. What a weird underworld they have.

“Now we can rule one thing out, it’s a drug crime my dad is planning and it has something to do on Pickens Day”, she tells him, satisfied with the progress they’ve made so far.

He sighs, “But they just don’t make sense. Like why deal drugs when everyone’s celebrating?”

She slaps him playfully on the shoulder, “Come on, don’t be such a desperate pessimist! Let’s celebrate what we’ve found so far with more of the Faderade.”

He chuckles, “We haven’t even solved anythin – wait, what’s a Faderade?”

“The drink! It’s Gatorade and vodka, and vodka makes you fade! So Gatorade plus the fading sensation equals Faderade!” she explains, laughing at his reaction.

He frowns, “What about the cream soda?”

“Faderade soda, then”, she adds.

“You know what, I approve it, Lodge. We’ll have that on our menu, and I’ll give you credit for naming it”, he stands up and follow her to the bar. They didn’t make a step when Toni suddenly appeared in front of them.

“Hi, Toni”, Veronica greets.

“Hey, Veronica”, she replies but turns to Jughead immediately, “Jug, your dad is going to reach here in five minutes”, she warns him before slipping back to the bar’s main area.

“Oh, shit, thanks”, he mumbles to a non-existent Toni as he turns around and shuts down the application. Veronica heads for the couch to get her handbag, trying not to walk fast or she’d look suspicious disappearing quickly moments before everyone’s boss arrives. They take the back exit of the bar quietly where Jughead’s motorcycle was parked. He shoves her phone back inside her handbag as she takes it off to call an Uber.

“I’ll drop you, don’t you see my motorcycle? And also I don’t charge money, I charge burgers”, he jokes.

She tells him worriedly, “But what if my dad sees you dropping me off?”

“What does Hiram have to say if his precious daughter hangs out with her friend? Because if he does have something to say about hanging out with a Serpent friend, it would make him look like the suspicious one, not you”, he says wisely as he puts on his fingerless gloves, and hands her the helmet.

“You have a point”, she shrugs at him, declining the helmet.

The ride was over quick for her. She was quite enjoying the sensation of the wind blowing around (like she always does) her face, because it stops suddenly (like it always does) as Jughead pulls up in front of the Pembrooke. Everything she enjoys gets over _way_ quicker than they’re supposed to.

“Thanks for the ride, Jug”, she tells as she gets off and heads home. He nods.

‘Thank you.”

She turns around to see him looking at her, sitting on the motorcycle like he was posing for a photography shoot or something.

“For what?” she asks him incredulously, once she was sure he said it, not someone else stalking around them.

“For everything. For helping me”, he says, “I never thought I would say this, but I’ve grown to quite like you as a friend.” He grimaces with pain as he tells her the last part.

She laughs lightly, “Well, I could say the same, Jug”, then imitates him by air gagging.

He nods at her one time before revving the engine unnecessarily, and laughs at her eye-roll, then speeds off roaring into the silent night like they were in a cinematic life from the 80s. She watches him until the darkness swallows him whole.

Veronica turns around and she heads up the steps of the grandeur house, thinking about the fact that the only things she’s done these past few days was helping and caring for others.

But was any of it helping her own self in any way?

***

She can’t stop giggling. Archie was telling her a funny story of the Bulldog’s visiting his house from last night. Apparently, everyone was let down that their team captain doesn’t remember anything, Moose was crying, but Reggie was beside himself.

“Although Reggie was quite sad, he’s happy now that he’s going to be captain, and he said he finally surpassed me. I was confused, you know, like what he has surpassed me on, I asked, then he lifted his shirt to show me his muscles”, he tells her, sipping on a milkshake, the slits of afternoon sunlight from Pop’s window drawers illuminating his boyish face, and turns his red hair into another shade of fiery crimson, “Then he walked up to me and lifted mine, and then everyone in the room went quiet. Apparently I missed almost a week of my usual routine work-out, because I can’t honestly remember how to do them, and Reggie expected me to lose the body, but it stayed the same. Everyone was surprised, even me.”

She giggles, “And what was Reggie’s reaction?”

“He was much more downtrodden when I told him about the amnesia”, he laughs, “But who could blame him? He has a strict diet and vigorous exercise routine he follows every day just to maintain his body. I’m not even following one, and my body remains the same.”

She laughs with him, and she feels at peace. Pure peace. Nothing about her father’s pretentious crimes or schemes he’s planning behind the doors of his study, or the fact that she’s broken the heart of the boy laughing carelessly with her, crosses her mind.

“You look happy today”, he says as the laughter subsides, eyeing her with bright crinkling eyes.

She shrugs, smiling, “The sun is bright today, and so am I.”

“You’re always bright despite the sun”, he mumbles, turning a bit red.

She blushes and slaps a hand on his, which was lying on the table, “Aw, you’re so sweet, Archiekins.”

He turns to the shade of his hair, but grins giddily, like he was proud of himself for making her smitten. Her mind wistfully turns back to the days he’d actually do that, and she would fall for all of the little things he did. She isn’t falling for it again, though. She’s already in it deep.

She sighs mentally, but realizes a moment later she sighed aloud, causing Archie’s smile to drop and be replaced with his lips pursed, looking worriedly at her.

“Are you alright?  And I know I’m asking about your well-being a lot”, he says, before she can point it out. She muses that he’s already know what’s going to come out of her mouth before it does.

“I’m fine, I just”, she says, suddenly remembering him telling her not to keep everything to herself. She decides he can have a bit of it, partly because he could at least slow it down with his concerned questions, and partly because she misses confiding the deepest secrets to him.

She sighs before continuing, “It’s just, things aren’t going well at home right now, and Pickens Day coming up and everything doesn’t help lighten up the stress, you know.”

He seems taken back, “Oh, do you want to spend less time with me, then? I won’t mind, so you can go back to help your dad with more time, possibly lightening up the stress.”

“No, no, Archie, you –”, she cuts herself before she says _You lighten up the stress. In fact, you lighten up the world for me_ , “– you’re fun to hang out with”, she says instead.

He smiles, but then says, “But hanging with me takes most of your time –”

She shakes her head, “How about you come and help me with Pickens Day like I suggested then? It would be a win-win situation, I get to spend time with you, and you won’t have to feel guilty about taking my time.”

He looks at her for a heartbeat before smiling widely, “Sounds fair.”

Archie laughs at her enthusiastic reaction, who claps her hand together in excitement. Both of them can’t keep their faces straight as they head together to the Pembrooke. Archie was continuously telling her jokes to keep her up good mood, and she really has to thank him for that, as they laugh in the backseat of the car, her heart beating in her chest insanely fast, and the butterflies fluttering in her stomach like a cheerful storm. She feels content with it, like it’s all she ever needs, as she basks in the feeling of eternal bliss that started in one of the many booths at Pop’s, her perfect getaway, turned into a teenager’s wildest dream with the red head by her side.

“So you have fun hanging out with me, huh?” he questions her as the laughter from his previous joke died down. She turns to see him laying his head back on the headrest, observing her with crinkling dark, but yet the brightest, brown eyes she’s ever seen. She blushes at the intensity of his gaze.

“Of course I do”, she tells him, biting the inside of her lower lips, “You really make me happy, you know.”

He smiles and turns to face the window, but she doesn’t miss the way his ears turns rosy, and the way he licks his dry lips before turning away. She turns away and looks at the window as well, her face hot from the way he moistened his lips just then. It’s the just _little things_. She shakes her head slightly, and in dire need of something to do that doesn’t involve talking again (why can’t they _ever_ talk without getting the tensions building?), she connects her phone to the car speakers and plays a random song on her various playlists.

A guitar intro blasts through the speakers with an indie-rock vibe, startling Archie, who apparently doesn’t notice that she’s connected her phone with the speakers. She laughs at his reaction, and he joins in a little later, chuckling with embarrassment. Just when the intro started to go on repeat, the notes picked reverberating around the small space of the car, he frowns.

“I think I know this song”, he says, glancing at her. She’s surprised that he’d know the song she so randomly picked from a random playlist that was probably opened months ago, nevertheless, a one Archie’s heard. She suddenly remembered it when the verse starts playing.

_I see the end, you wait for nothing_

_You and I, we grew up in the suburbs_

He exclaims, “Yeah, I heard this song in the morning! It’s by Wallows, I think?”

She presses the power button of her phone to see the song playing, “Yeah, Pictures of Girls by Wallows.”

_Now you're gone, the city's down a number_

_It is not the same without you around_

“I feel like it’s a song I would’ve listened on repeat”, he tells her, head laying back again.

_I see you there, still shy but smiling_

_Now I find it hard to remember_

“Yeah, it does”, she says, bracing for the next lyrics to really hit her home, to really make her feel what Archie’s felt when she was gone.

_All the times I tried to forget her_

_I'm hanging on to something real_

He says lazily, his feet moving to the rhythm, clearly lost in the chorus of the song, “It’s such a good song, you know the vibe it gives me. I was going through this playlist on this amazing app called Spotify, it had all good songs, like the app knows my taste or something. Is it a coincidence that this song is playing or what?”

She mumbles, “Partly, maybe, because we share a Spotify account.”

He jerks his head to look at her, “What?”

“Well, you were complaining about how much Spotify was charging you, so I decided that you share the account with me.”

It was true. 2 months into their relationship Veronica found him moody on school morning. When she asked him what was it that bothered him, he went on a rant about how much Spotify was charging him, even though it was pretty cheap. He complained about the chicken nuggets he could’ve gotten for the months he paid for premium, which only made her laugh indignantly, because it reminded her of the chicken nugget vine. She remembered how he huffed adorably, and tried to be annoyed with her but failed spectacularly when she offered to share her account as long as he shares his Netflix account.

Admittedly, she regretted her decision partly, as she had to endure the jump scares of the loud guitar riffs at the start of every Metallica and AC.DC songs randomly popping in her soft pop and jazz playlists. It was a prank played on her by Archie, and she didn’t mind, because she retaliated by forcing him to listen to Taylor Swift and Frank Sinatra when they were riding around town in his truck, crying with laughter at his tortured poker face. With time, they both grew used to the taste of each other’s music, but in the end, they found common ground in soft rock and indie, and Ed Sheeran as well (who doesn’t like him?). It wasn’t too loud and crazy for Veronica, and it wasn’t too soft and boring for Archie, so it was a win-win situation for both of them.

“Oh, nice”, he says while Veronica ponders in her mind whether they’ve ever created a playlist for _special occasions_ with titles like _sex songs_ or _varchie rules_ , any along those lines that could give Archie a chance to figure out the purpose of the playlists for a week. She remembers she deleted all of them while she was wasting away in Venice. Come to think of it, she didn’t even realize he was still using her Spotify account even after they’ve broken up, but she wasn’t so naïve. She was still using his Netflix account as well, streaming away _The Office_ when there were no new shows for her to watch or there was nothing to do in her life.

_You should be down in Hollywood!_

He starts to sing along as the song enters the repetitive bridge. She laughs but joins him later, shouting the words at the top of her lungs, rolling down a window so the whole Riverdale could hear their insolent but innocent life.

_You should be down in Hollywood!_

***

“You’ll perform on Pickens Day?” Archie asks her with awe.

She waves a hand, “It’s nothing much, really.”

“No way, it is _something_ much, you’re going to perform on stage!”

“I know, it’ll be fun!” she giggles at the way he seemed to be so amazed at her.

“So the Pussycats are yours?”

“No, it belongs to Josie McCoy, but I perform from time to time, depending on my mood”, she tells him, still jittery from the way he still stares at her.

“Oh, cool. Right, so where should we put dessert stalls?” Archie looks down at the list he has in hands

They were sitting on the floor of her bedroom, her laptop open on her lap, papers, lists and maps spread around them. Veronica was asked by her father to help plan the positions of food stalls in the best way possible. He told her that both the North and South sides families were committing to bring the best foods for the festival, a variation of cuisines that looked really great if she’d have told Jughead about it, he would’ve drooled just looking at the list.

“I guess we should put the dessert stalls near the entrances, you know, so everyone coming in would have light snacks while they walk around and see more of the festival”, she says, snatching the list from his hands and checks them, tilting her glasses to get a clearer view.

 Archie groans, “Oh, fun fact, I would be full of snacks by the time we actually reach the barbecue stall.”

She giggles and throws a pencil at him, who swipes the mess of papers they made at her.

“Stop, stop! Archie! You’re messing the papers up!” she scolds him, but still laughing nevertheless. They were interrupted by a knock on the open door. She turns around mid-commotion to find her father standing next to the door, the papers thrown slowly drifting back to solid ground.

“Daddy”, she says, looking up at him staring at Archie.

Archie stands up quickly, and ever the perfect gentleman, reaches out a hand, “Mr. Lodge, it’s a pleasure. I’m Archi –”

“Archie Andrews”, Hiram finishes it for him, taking his outstretched hand and shaking it firmly, “the man who broke my daughter’s heart.”

She could feel her heart drop to the bottom of her stomach. She sees Archie, in mid-shake, glances at her questioningly before looking back at Hiram’s cold eyes.

“Sorry?” he says. Her father looks at the red head, startled, then when his dark calculating eyes travelled over his daughter’s face, settling on her wide eyes and her slight shake of head, he understands.

Archie, for the first time she’s seen since his amnesia, is clearly finding the situation suddenly awkward and tense, asks again, “I don’t understand what you mean, sir.”

Hiram turns to look at Archie, “Oh, it was just a figure of a speech, nothing else. Nice to meet you again, Archie. _Mija_ , do you mind if you’d come to my study for a minute?”

She gets up from the floor, takes off her glass and looks at Archie apologetically, who was still standing where her father left him for his study, a perplexed look on his face. He looks at her again with questioning eyes, but she mouths _later_ before following her father into the study, trying to ignore the feeling of anger and resentment settling in the bottom of her stomach.

Her father raises a hand as she closes the study’s door, before she can hiss at him, “I’m sorry, _mija_ , I didn’t know you didn’t tell him yet.”

She imitates her father, “ _The man who broke my daughter’s heart_. Haven’t I told you _already_ that it was _my_ choice?”

“That was a slip, I’m sorry”, he admits.

She scoffs, “It doesn’t matter already, now that he knows.”

“I think I might have been convincing enough, he looked quite sure that it was a figure of speech.”

“But he’s going to keep asking me non-stop about it now!” she says, trying to level her voice to her father’s calmness.

Hiram shrugs, “Just tell him you don’t know what I was on about.”

 She seethes from her anger that was bubbling intensely, but she grits her teeth because her father was at no wrong, except that one part.

He walks round his desk, and faces her with both his hands on the table, the dim light of the room makes him look like some evil character from every Disney cartoon.

“But anyways, I didn’t call you here to rant about my mistakes of letting slip your ex-boyfriend’s. I want to ask you something.”

“What?” she says, hoping it wasn’t too rude or harsh.

He raises an eyebrow, amused by her attitude, “I’ve noticed you’ve been hanging out with Jughead a lot lately.”

“Yeah, he’s my friend. And since I’m helping you arrange Pickens Day, it’s good to have him help me”, she says, a little too quickly.

“Helping you arrange food stalls?”

She shrugs, “Yeah, he’s an eater so he’d know a great deal about food. You should see the way he eats his burgers at Pop’s.” She really needs to calm down and give rational answers.

“So you’re also hanging with him at Pop’s. I never knew you were close”, Hiram says, observing her reaction.

 _Just when I should calm down._ The anger in her stomach intensifies ten-fold, “Yeah, we weren’t, but not until you forced drug trafficking on his father so much that his living condition was so bad to live in, so I’ve been helping him rebuild his life back”, she replies, her voice full of venom.

Her father’s mouth turns into a thin line as he observes her with a scowl, “Was that necessary?”

“Was commenting on Archie’s past relationships with me necessary?” she says, keeping her ground.

“I said I was sorry”, her father says, although he doesn’t sound sorry anymore, his tone now sounding cold and forbidden, the same way it was the night she overheard the conversation.

He continues before she could reply, “But as I was saying, why are hanging out with Jughead at the White Wyrm?”

“I already told you, he’s my frie – wait, how do you know I hang out with him in the bar?” she asks, the temperature of the room suddenly dropping, chilling her bones, her stomach churning from the immediate change of anger to fear. Does he have a _mole_ in the bar? Does he knows everything she and Jughead discussed? _Fuck, fuck._

“Andre has been keeping tabs”, Hiram tells her. She blows a mental breath of relief, but she was sure her father did not miss the way her face momentarily paled.

“Why, for what reason?” she hits back, while trying to calm her nerves.

He says firmly, “For your safety, _mija_.”

She scoffs again, “My safety? Or my interests? Is it because you don’t trust me that I ratted out and helped the Serpents last time? Why do you have to keep tabs on me this time, Dad? Planning something else?”

She notices the shift of his mood beneath the dark and strict demeanor of his, “Of course not, _mija_. I’ve told you I’ve learned my lesson.”

“Then why?!” she asks, now the anger in her voice clear and strong

“I –”

“You know what’s funny, Daddy? It’s that you’ve broken my trust _twice, twice_! And I haven’t even kept any tabs on you, never asked you about any late night dealings you have, always tried to believe in whatever bullshit you try to convince me in the aftermath of the horrible events of your making, and just because I did the right thing last time, the _right_ thing, even though if was it breaking the Lodge’s confidentiality or whatever, and now I am actually helping you do this Pickens Day thing, you’re keeping tracks of whatever I do and wherever I go? How is that fair?!” she says to his face, her hands moving around and pointing air accusations.

She doesn’t know where the sudden rage came from. _Shit_. A rush of adrenaline that made her let go of her most spiteful feelings for her own father, seeps away from her bloodstream. She suddenly feels hot, angry tears on her cheeks, which spilled without her notice. She can see through the tears that her father was looking down solemnly. She wait for him to apologize, or say something that would reassure her.

But when he doesn’t, she continues, “The Pussycats are performing without me, I’m sorry”, she tells him angrily, wiping her tears.

Her father looks up, “ _Mija_ , I didn’t mean to –”

“I know you don’t mean to, Daddy, but you always seem to”, she spits out, and without another word she storms out of the study, ignoring her father’s hurried apology which didn’t even make it to her as she strides across the living room to her bedroom, before stopping in front of the barely open door.

She wipes any tears left on her cheeks, tries to put on a normal expression and push all her feelings to the back of her mind before pushing the door open to find Archie sitting on her bed, consulting the papers in his hand. He looks up at her and smiles. Just when she thought she succeeded in tricking him into nothing’s happened, her hand slams the bedroom door shut, which startled Archie into dropping the papers.

“Woah, are you alright?” he asks.

 _Fuck,_ she thinks. She hoped her father’s study doors were sound proof, but the walls weren’t.

She tries again, and looks at him with her bright usual smile, “Oh, yes and no. Just some daddy-daughter disagreement.”

He frowns at her unnaturally high pitched voice, “Oh, okay.”

She was grateful of him for not asking her to elaborating further on the argument, because she wouldn’t be able to tell him all of it with shedding more tears.

“So, what did your father mean?” he asks her as she sits down next to him on the bed. She was ready for the question, already having an answer, but nevertheless, it still was blow that made the air in her lungs disappear.

“What he said, a figure of speech, otherwise I have no idea”, she says, smiling again at his still confused face.

“Right”, he says, his tone clearly suggests his disappointment with the answer.

She can’t bear it. Not when everything else in her life is grim and horrible, she can’t bear having Archie moody as well.

“And if that’s all the questions”, she jokes, eyeing his face as the corner of his lips tug into a smile, “Should we get this done?”

“Yeah, sure”, he says, smiling at her

She ignores the fluttering in her heart as he locked eyes with her, sure that it does not deserve the oblivious, but innocent boy sitting next to her. She tries to avoid his eye for the rest of the day without raising much suspicion to her mood.

***

Her eyelids flutter open suddenly, and all she sees is pitch black until her eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness in her bedroom. She gets up, rubbing her eyes and looks around the moon lit room, unsure of what woke her up. Her eyes scanned the blue walls, which is lit by a different shade of blue moon light, turning her room into an ethereal mixture of blues. Which probably also included her blue mood. Shaking her head to get rid of the melatonin left in her brain and getting up from the bed, she hears shuffling footsteps outside the house. Frowning, she walks cautiously to her window, pushes the light curtains aside to see the family car on, the engine sound lightly humming in the silent night like some creature slumbering. Wondering what the hell Andre is doing at the middle of the night as she grabs her phone and exits her room, she tip toes silently across the lobby. She takes the stair, her nightgown swishing behind her like Batman’s cape, because the elevator’s ding would sound like a gunshot in the dead of the night and plus, she was sure her dad has the elevator off past midnight. She turns the lock of the door at the bottom of the stairs, cursing the loud click, and as quietly as possible, pushes it open and slips out.

Veronica hasn’t even made two steps, when she sees Andre coming back in from the open front door, not noticing her as his eyes were on his phone. She stops and observes him as he bends down to pick one of the many small shoe-sized boxes lying on the floor, not previously present.

“Going somewhere?” she asks, feeling the cool night air blowing in.

He jerks up suddenly, dropping the box he’s holding in surprise. He clears his throat, “Miss Lodge.”

She slowly walks up to him, trying to sound like she’s just curious, “What’s with all these boxes, Andre? And why are you up so late?”

“Shouldn’t you be asleep, Miss Lodge?” he asks her, ignoring her questions.

She shrugs, “Clearly I am awake. Couldn’t sleep. I answered your questions, now answer mine.”

She throws a mental air punch as she sees panic building in his eyes. Nothing else but panic to make a person spill.

He stammers, “J-just carrying stuff Mr. Lodge asked me to.”

“Oh, this late?”  
“No, I just forgot about these. They’re electronics for the stage on Pickens Day”, he says, the firmness in his voice suddenly coming back. She curses herself mentally for failing to look intimidating, but the fuck she’s thinking, she’s still a 17 year-old teenager trying to hold her life together by its seams, while Andre is a bodyguard, somewhere around 30, been through many of Hiram Lodge’s dealings, and probably knows tae kwon doe. Well, at least she tried.

“Oh, let me help you carry them then, I’ve been dying to do something”, she says, folding up the sleeves of her nightgown.

‘Oh, no, Miss Lodge, it’s okay –”

 “What’s the matter? Let me help you, c’mon”, she says indignantly, but when he mutters more incoherent protests, she interrupts him, “Let me help, or I’ll tell Daddy that you’ve been lacking in your work.”

She knows 100% that it was an empty threat because 1) she already knows Andre’s lying and 2) Andre could pretty much tell her to fuck off and rat about it to his boss because his story is non-existent. But hey, Veronica Lodge always knows what she’s doing (or at least that’s what she tells herself). She knows the threat would work, staring at Andre’s blank expression, because he has to agree in order to not make his story sound suspicious, and plus, even if he did let her go and tell her dad about it, he would have to endure Hiram Lodge’s wrath of letting his own daughter find out about works that are meant to be under wraps.

He nods and smiles, “Thank you, Miss Lodge.”

“My pleasure”, she tells him, trying to keep triumph out of her voice.

It pretty much wears off when she realizes the window of walking to the car was less than 7 seconds, not enough to for her to check what’s in the heavy boxes she’s carrying, so she drops them intentionally just right in front of the car.

“Oh, crap, I’m sorry!” she exclaims as the boxes hits the floor with rattling clank of whatever’s inside. Something metallic.

“It’s okay”, Andre mutters as he bends down to help pick up the dropped boxes. The scenario is not what she had in mind, as she really expected the boxes to drop and burst open, spreading its contents outside. But the boxes were sealed. _Damn it._

Andre thanks her again after they finished loading the boxes into the trunk, but she wasn’t listening, her mind was working furiously as to what she could to find out more about the situation. Her hand brushes past her phone in the nightgown pocket as it falls to her side, and she was struck by an idea.

She opens the door to the backseat and turns to Andre, ‘Forgot my headphones inside.”

He nods in reply as he shuts the trunk and walks to the driver’s seat. In one quick, swift moment, she slips her phone out, drops it into the seat pocket and closes the door.

She smiles at the driver through the windows, who nods again, and reverses, the tires crunching the gravel as the car slides out of the parking slot. Without waiting for him to disappear, she turns back and heads back into the Pembrooke, locking the front door and sprints as quietly as she could back to her room.

Once she was sitting in her bed, her covers pulled up with the laptop on her crossed legs, she opened Chrome and selects Settings. She scrolls down and lets out triumphant breath as she finds the ‘Track my phone’ option, clicking on it. Praying that she had the GPS turned on on her phone, she waits silently as the application loads. A map suddenly appears on her screen along with a blue dot moving on the screen. Her hand finds her bedside table as she frantically searches for her glasses, puts it on and squints at the road the dot was moving on. _Sweetwater Rd._ She realizes that he’s driving out of Riverdale, so she leans back on the pillows propped against the head board of her bed, her eyes following the movement on screen. She waits for five minutes until the blue dot suddenly comes to a stop.

Sitting up straighter, she zooms out of the map to find Andre at the outskirts of the town. The place he’s at doesn’t have anything mentioned, so she copies the location via its latitude and opens Google Earth, pasting the copied location on the search bar. Her fingers tap restlessly as the application does its unnecessary animation of zooming out of the blue planet before zooming back in to the location. She pushes her glasses up by the bridge as the image loads with better resolution. She couldn’t tell exactly from a 2D image, but she could tell that it was an abandoned warehouse. Cheryl has told her a million years ago that were plenty maple factories on the borders of Riverdale that fell out of use. She saves the location, and opens her Facebook to text Jughead about it.

**Veronica: Jug, I tracked Andre tonight, he was transporting some stuff for my dad for Pickens Day but I’m sure he was lying. He stopped at the location I’m sending.**

**Veronica: _attachment_**

She was sure he was dead asleep considering the time, but was surprised to find the green dot suddenly appearing next to his avatar, indicating that he’s online. A bubble appears as he types.

**Jughead: Wow, have these people ever watched any spy movies, because they really need to learn how to be discreet.**

**Veronica: Did you check the location I sent u?**

**Jughead: Yeah, I will, can’t you just let me joke me first**

**Veronica: -.-**

**Jughead: what was he carrying tho?**

**Veronica: idk, some electronics. Maybe cameras?**

**Jughead: oh holy shit.**

**Veronica: what?**

**Jughead: this place used to be a common place for the Serpents to trade**

**Veronica: really?**

**Jughead: Yeah, fuck**

She frowns as she types.

**Veronica: why what’s up?**

**Jughead: the reason I said ‘used’ is because the place has a bad reputation. 9 out of 20 times the Serpents dealt there, we’ve either been arrested or shot dead.**

**Veronica: oh fuck**

**Jughead: ikr**

**Jughead: hey guess what, you’re not the only with bad news**

**Veronica: what did you find out?**

**Jughead: LEMON is Lenny Kowalski, a well-known name across the underworld**

She gasps as she reads the name, knowing him so well from sitting in one of her father’s many business dinners.

**Veronica: I know him. He’s my father’s common partner! I see him in almost every business diners and other events my dad goes to.**

**Jughead: Yeah, and he was last seen at Riverdale. Also has a reputation for dealing Fentanyl and other exotic drugs**

**Jughead: so everything adds up**

**Veronica: yeah**

**Jughead: ugh shit why am I panicking?**

**Veronica: hey it’s okay, we’ll figure this out tomorrow. I’m sleepy now.**

It was true, her eyelids were drooping as she was typing.

**Jughead: Yeah, cool, bail out while I’m panicking**

**Veronica: go to sleep, it’ll help. Seriously, you of all better should know how much sleeping helps.**

**Jughead: I remembered it was one of the many ways Hemingway used, but it didn’t stop him from shooting himself. But I’ll try. Bye.**

**Veronica: oh my god, can you stop being so depressing. Hope it isn’t the last time I hear from you. bye**

She shuts the cover down and puts it aside with her glasses on the bedside. She doesn’t even have to think of any comforting thoughts because she falls asleep the instant her head hits the pillow.

***

Wondering why her alarm hasn’t rung yet, she suddenly remembers she doesn’t have her phone with her. Sitting up bolt right, and regretting it immediately as the bright sunlight hits her, burning her eyes like as if she was a vampire, she gets out of bed and stumbles to her bathroom. After a quick shower, and getting dressed for the day, she walks past her parents, who were eating breakfast silently at the table. She ignores her father, who calls her breakfast.

“ _Mija_ , come for breakfast”, her mother calls.

“I’m going to Pop’s with Archie, Mom, want something?” she calls back, pressing for the lift.

“Oh, no thank you, _mija_ ”, Hermione’s voice tells her as she enters the lift.

She greets Andre, who was sitting at the front desk as usual, “Good morning, Andre.”  
He looks up and smiles, “Good morning, Miss Lodge. How can I help you?”

“Archie’s. I’m picking him up for breakfast”, she tells him. He nods and gets up with car keys in his hand. She throws on her cloak before heading outside and getting into the back seat. She looks at Andre who seemed to be concentrating on the road now, before quietly slipping her hand in the seat’s pocket to retrieve her warm phone. She unlocks it to see 17 messages from Jughead. She scrolls up the list of messages to read from the beginning, wondering what in the world Jughead’s got to say.

**Hey** _9:54 AM_

**Heey, veronica**

**Veronica**

**Veronicaaa**

**Ronnie**

**Are you up** _10: 06 AM_

**Shit**

**Listen**

**You know**

**I told you I was panicking last night** _10:18 AM_

**I couldn’t sleep**

**So yeah**

**I found someone to talk to**

**Sweet pea**

**Im sorry**

**I think I may have told him about it**

**It just slipped out**

**Fuck, help me, veronica** _10:29 AM_

**Im rly fucking sorry.**

 

 

 

 

 


	6. Chapter 6

**_ Part II _ **

****

“Andre, just go to Pop’s”, she catches herself saying. Her fingers were fumbling as the phone slips out of her grasp.

“What about Mr. Andrews?” he asks her, looking at her through the rear-view mirror.

She picks up her phone from the car floor, stammering, “His d-dad will drop him.”

Andre nods and doesn’t speak another word as he takes the next U-turn, rounding his way to Pop’s. Her fingers tap silently on the screen, texting Jughead vehemently, relying the auto correct to correct her misspelled words typed in a hurry.

**Veronica: Where r u right now?**

She bites the inside of her lower lip as she waits for a response, looking out at the blur of bright green. To her surprise, the feeling that was boiling at the cauldron of her stomach wasn’t anger, it was actually fear. Logically, she _should_ be angry, even if a little bit, for Jughead not being able to keep a secret to himself, but he said he was scared and panicking, which she understood _really_ well, and he already apologized. She was all too familiar with the feeling of being alone and when it feels like there’s no one to rely on even for a span of the moment, because it was pretty much how her life began at Riverdale. The first days when she thought she had no one, when she thought she had to rely only on herself, bearing the weight and guilt of her father’s crimes as she walked and head into the halls of Riverdale High or anywhere for the matter. That was until Archie came crashing into her life like a fiery red comet, a blessing from God, and Betty, Jughead, Josie and so many more others that made her life much better. But then again, it was funny comparing Jughead’s situation to her’s, because 1) she wasn’t keeping any secrets back those days and 2) she was lasting by herself for probably half a month, while Jug split apart just in a few hours. The situation was contrastingly different, but yet, what they were feeling is totally the same. She looks at her screen as the phone buzzes silently in her hand

**Jughead: Oh thank god**

**Jughead: At the Wyrm, but don’t come here, it’s a commotion**

**Veronica: I thought u said u needed help. What do you mean by commotion, everybody found out?**

**Jughead: no, not everyone. A few.**

**Veronica: Why don’t you get out of there and let’s meet at your trailer or Pop’s**

**Jughead: I’m sorry I can’t get out yet, they’re all grilling me for information.**

**Veronica: Shit then let me come**

**Jughead: fine, but please hurry**

She gets out as soon as Andre pulls up in front of Pop’s.

“Should I wait for you, Miss Lodge?” he asks her from the driver’s seat.

She smiles at him, “No, it’s okay, I’ll find my way home.”

He nods, and she waits for him to completely disappear, and so he did as she pulled out her phone again, this time to call an Uber. She curses silently as the application tells her that her ride was 10 minutes away. She heads into the shade of the burger wonderland and milkshakes, escaping the glaring sunshine. The tinkling doorbell alerts Pop Tate of her presence.

“Hello, Veronica. No Archie today?” he chuckles.

She laughs, “He can’t come, he’s busy today. Can I get a latte please?”

“Yeah, sure”, he says. She slips him the money as he passes her the caffeinated drink. She sits and sips the hot drink silently at the counter, silently observing passing by customers, whom were always greeted politely by Pop. She wonders how on earth could a person be so nice and gentle, wishing there were more Pop Tates in this world and in her life.

He notices her staring when the customer disappeared to find a booth. He smiles, “I kind of miss the way it used to be, you know. Seeing you without Archie, gives an incomplete picture, you know.”

The glass stop halfway to her mouth, surprised by what Pop is saying to her. Nevertheless, she knew it was true. Her life was incomplete and in chaos without the usual red head order in it. Her phone suddenly buzzes to indicate the arrival of her Uber driver.

She shrugs at him, smiling wistfully, “Yeah, I missed that too. But things change, you know.”

She sets down the empty cup, saying her goodbye to Pop before heading back in into the bright, but yet dark crazy world. She tries to push away the one more line she would’ve said to Pop.

 _But not my love for Archie Andrews._ Sounds kind of cheesy, but it was true.

She gets in the car, and tells the driver to head to the White Wyrm. He nods at her weirdly, probably wondering what on earth is a girl like her heading to the bad-reputation bar on the South side for.

She calls Archie, listening to the steady beeping line. A second later he picks up.

The bright voice that comes through her phone, muffled only by the poor signal, instantly lightens up her mood, “Hey, Ronnie, I was wondering when you’d come. Are you lost?”

She chuckles but her tone then turns solemn soon as she breaks him the news, “Uh no, Archie, listen. Um, can we move it to lunch instead? An emergency came up?”

“Oh, is everything okay?”

She shuts her eyes tightly, biting her lips. Any guy would’ve sound disappointed or probably hung up on her for bailing out this many times, but she knows Archie isn’t any guy. Archie is Archie Andrews, an embodiment of perfectness, and she’d damned if anything changes, because she knows she’ll just fall in love with it like she did with him before. Trust him to be all worried again, she mentally sighs.

“Well, yes and no. Jughead kind of needs my help”, she mumbles apologetically.

He says, concerned, “Is he alright? Do you want me to come?”

“Oh, no it’s okay, it’s nothing I can’t do.”

“Yeah, I know that. You can do anything, you know, you’re a wonder.”

She laughs at him, incredibly softened by the courage his words are giving her, “Yeah, thanks, Archiekins. And I’m so, so sorry again, I promise I’ll make it up to you.”

“You have nothing to make up for, I’ve already forgiven you”, he laughs.

“See you later then”, she giggles. She sighs as he hangs up, already missing his voice.

The driver comes to a stop in front of the White Wyrm, where there were multiple Serpents lounging on the outside porch, some of them leaning on their glinting bikes, shades on with the glare of the bright sunshine. The presence of the glaring bikers probably scares the driver into a quick _we’re here, miss_ and the quick transition of money. She gets out of the car confused at his peculiar behavior, but doesn’t seem surprise all the same, considering the Serpents outside look pretty menacing (it was important, as Jughead had told her, apparently it gives an intimidating impression to other if passing-bys gangs). She heads into the bar, her chin tilted up and braces for whatever she’s about to face (including a probable walk of shame, with pineapple and umbrella sticks thrown at her along the way she walks up to Jug).

The bar was the same as usual as she pushes the door open and enter, smoky and smelling of booze, the clacking sound of Serpents playing pool, the usual bad quality speakers playing soft music, the common hum of conversations and the occasional laughter coming from the short elf-looking guy who tells everyone the same joke every time . Her eyebrows travels relentlessly up her forehead as she spots Jughead surrounded by Sweet Pea, Fangs, Toni and a couple of other young Serpents. Sweet Pea stands up suddenly as he spots her, and she notices Toni pulling him back down by his sleeve.

“Lodge”, he says menacingly as she reaches their spot.

“Sweet Pea”, she inclines her head mockingly, before turning to Jughead and asking him ridiculously, “Is this supposed to be a commotion, Jughead?” she asks him.

He sighs, raising his hands, “It is, Veronica, can’t you see how many people are glowering at me?”

Her travels over the faces surrounding them, most of them looking innocently curious, some bewildered and some confused with mild anger, all of except for Sweet Pea, who was red faced and grimacing.

“I think you’re still panicking, Jug”, she says as she makes way to sit next to him.

Sweet Pea, “Alright, cut the bullshit guys. Jughead, are you going to elaborate what you said?”

“What did he tell you about?” Veronica asks him, curious at how much Jughead let slip.

Toni answers, lounging in her armchair, her pink highlight _glowing_ , “He said your father is planning something bad that is going to rid of us Serpents, and we were about to get more out of him when you blessed us with your arrival.”

“Oh, okay”, she mumbles. Side eyeing Jughead in such a situation where many eyes were focusing on them was really hard, but she does get the chance to eye him questioningly and searches for confirmation in his eyes, and he shakes his head slightly. Apparently, he doesn’t want them to know that his father’s involve yet. And apparently, she doesn’t know how she gets it either. Her right temple starts to throb painfully.

“What do you mean by ‘oh okay’, Veronica? Because this does sound serious, you know”, Fangs quips up. Everybody around them agrees by nodding and muttering silent _I agree_ s.

She and Jughead sigh at the same time, achieving weird looks but the fellow Serpents. She smirks as he laughs nervously but they stop suddenly as Sweet Pea growls at them from his seat.

“Alright, I’ll tell you these plans of my father, but you all have to promise me one thing”, she says, addressing all the Serpents surrounding her, who were listening to her with rapt attention.

She knows she’s going crazy, but it was the only way out, telling people things that are not meant to be told, and what the hell, it’s like if as if she and Jughead could do anything with just the two of them keeping all the information to themselves, and wasn’t the saying famous? The more the merrier! Kind of ironic, because her head’s really threatening to burst with all the intense glare going through her. But the thing keeping her from telling people, she knew, was how fast her father could change tracks if any whisper that his plans are known by someone outside his knowledge reaches his ears. She can’t risk that, not when she nearly has everything she needs in her hands, and was sure that she wasn’t going to risk it in fact when she’s heard of Jughead’s action, all too familiar with how much a person can let slip when under pressure. Then again, the Serpents were his family, and despite a few misgivings here and there, they’d pretty much welcomed her into the bar, if not even with warm open arms, they know what she’s done in the past. And they were very thankful for it, if she remembers correctly.

_“If you need anything, we have your back, Veronica. Just call us, kay?” FP told her, the Serpents standing behind all agreed and nodded, including Jughead, who smiled at her gratefully._

She clears her throat before continuing as the momentary flashback gets over, “No one else knows about this. No one.”

They all nod in agreement and she nearly laughs at the way all the head bobs up and down simultaneously.

Jughead nudges her shoulder and whispers, “Are you serious, Lodge?”

“Yeah, we need all the help we can get right now, anyways”, she tells him brightly.

“Help with what?”

She turns around and feels a ton of ice cubes dropping into her stomach. FP was standing behind all of them, looking innocently curious.

“Uh, hey, Dad”, Jughead mumbles weakly.

“Hey, Jug. Hey, Veronica”, he replies, grinning obliviously, “So what are you all teenagers going on about?”

Before she could more than blink, Sweet Pea speaks, “Veronica was just about to tell us about these crazy plans of her father.”

Sweet Pea doesn’t seem to realize the effect of his words, momentarily confused at everyone’s expression. Veronica eyes travel over to Toni, who has a hand slapped on her forehead, Fangs, who was trying his best to sink as low as possible into his armchair, Jughead, who was looking like he was ready to kill anyone, hands clenching and unclenching, and finally landing on FP’s face, which was pale and blank.

“I- I didn’t know you knew about it, Veronica”, he stammers.

This world is really a fucking weird place. It takes days for something good to happen, and seconds for all of it to go to shit, she ponders as she watches Sweet Pea leaping up suddenly.

He shouts, “Wait, you’re in this –”

FP raises a hand to silent him, his eyes still fixed at her face. Sweet Pea’s raised voice had started to attract the attention of other Serpents, who turned to look at them curiously.

She sighs and says as quiet as possible, “I overheard the conversation you had with my dad that night. I’m sorry, I just can’t not do anything about it.”

His face pales impossibly furthermore, “Right. Jughead, you know about this?”

“Yeah, I do”, Jughead says

FP tells them, “Kids, I need you to stay out of this, I –”

Jughead interrupts his father, standing up as well and even though he wasn’t as tall as Sweet Pea, it demanded much more attention and was way more intimidating, the pronounced scowl and his baggy eyes, “Why? Why should we, Dad? We want to help.”

“You can’t help it, just drop it”, FP says.

“Why not?” Sweet Pea says, then points a finger at him, “You know, I’m kind of surprised that you’re telling us to drop it. You’re the boss and yet you –”

She interrupts, “Hey, Sweet Pea, would you calm dow –”

He whips around to face her, “Keep quiet, Lodge. You have no voice here, considering what you’re father has done and is doing to us.”

Before she could do more than scoff, Jughead pushes Sweet Pea in the chest with a finger, “Excuse me, do you know who you’re talking to? The person who saved our asses the last time?”

“Alright, alright, calm down, all of you!” FP shouts as Sweet Pea opens his mouth to retaliate.

Everybody falls into a momentary silence, until one of the older Serpents, Mustang, joins in from the bar, “What’s going on, FP?”

The group exchanges looks, clearly not knowing what to do.

FP turns around and says, “Oh, nothing much. Just found out my son’s hooking up with Sweet Pea’s girlfriend, the Lodge girl.”

She would’ve really wanted to throw a punch on FP’s face but she grits her teeth as she watches Mustang’s face twisted into something like recognition and shock. But at least he seemed convinced.

He walks to Sweet Pea, who was still standing with a morose look on his face, and claps hand on his back, “Oh, wow, I didn’t know you’d fair a ticket with a Lodge, boy! Ah, I remember those days, helplessly chasing Hermione, too bad she went with the rich kid instead!”

Veronica swallows the disgust climbing up her throat, but sighs with relief as Mustang walks away. FP turns around and sits down on the nearest armchair, his face in his hands.

“Keep your voice down, Sweet Pea”, Toni warns the big teenage, who sits down angrily. He scoffs disgustingly and Veronica resists the urge to throw her boots at his face, but reconsiders as she wouldn’t want something so good and expensive to land on his face.

FP sighs loudly and looks around, seemingly waiting for the bar to resume its usual pace and return to their own respective business. When everyone goes back to their conversations, FP turns to Veronica and asks her, “What do you mean by crazy plans, Veronica? I thought he just wanted me to exchange drugs with this one friend of his only one time?”

“That’s what he says to you”, she replies, “But it’s actually much bigger than that.”

FP looks at her confusingly, motions for her to continue.

“This friend of his he’s involving you with, he’s one of his partners from New York. Apparently, they came down to Riverdale and –”

“And wanted 25% of whatever’s coming from the SoDale but Hiram could not give it to them, so he offered them to smuggle special drugs this one time as a golden opportunity, because it’s something Lenny Kowalski been dying to do”, FP interrupts her, elaborates when he sees Jughead and Veronica’s surprised face, “Hiram told me. But I don’t understand, what other plans would he have?”

Jughead speaks up this time, “Hiram knows that Kowalski won’t leave him alone even after the one time smuggling, and he knows you wouldn’t agree to another time, so he wants to use this chance effectively. We think that he wants to expose Kowalski and you, and once the police gets whiff of it, Kowalski’s gone and your involvement would get rid of the Serpents once and for all. We’re the group that’s standing in his way to turn the Southside into a dark, drug invested part of Riverdale, you know. He’ll also have the protection of the powerful lawyers from his industries, so as to make sure none of it gets back to him.”

FP shakes his head, mutters, “What a perfect scenario. I can’t believe I was so stupid to have actually believed him”, he pauses for a moment before saying incredulously, “But then why would he not carry on with it?”

She frowns, “What do you mean?”

He looks up at her, “He cancelled it this morning. Called me out of the blue to drop it. Do you think he’s found out that you know about it?”

She blinks a few times to make sure whether the FP sitting in front of her was real and delivering her the news she’s hearing, not some hallucination from the late after effects of something’s she accidently inhaled on the way to this chair, her mind slowly reeling in and processes the crazy information. She turns to look at Jughead, whose eyes were glassy, mouth hanging open and his eyebrows raised so high it was nearly touching the beanie on his head. Nearly bursting out of laughter at the expression, she turns to see the rest of the Serpents making noises of surprise and Sweet Pea disgruntling like a kid that’s been denied a Snickers bar.

Could’ve Andre told her father about last night? Or did her father found out in some other way? No, no mole was present in the Serpents, she was sure of that. Why was she pretty sure of it, anyways? Someone could’ve overheard their conversations during the past three days, but they made sure they sat in the farthest corner of the bar, away from the crowd and the voice, and she was sure that one had lingered around them suspiciously, Jughead had made sure of that, his quick keen ability to spot anything suspicious. So why was she sure that no Serpent would tell on them if, by chance, they overheard the discussion she had with Jughead, one sane part of her mind thought. The Serpents are family, yes, there was no they would sell on each other, much less if they heard about the fact that they were going to be in danger. No, she knows. Her father has acted on the whim when he found his daughter has been hanging out with a Serpent, who is also the son of the person’s he’s involving. He probably realized he was treading on dangerous waters and decided to withdraw, going back only to figure something else out.

She sighs heavily, “No, he wouldn’t have known. He’s probably just being cautious, because he knows I have been spending more time with Jughead recently, plus I had an argument with him about it yesterday.”

Jughead turns to look at her, “You argued with him about spending time with me?”

“No, not that way, you idiot. Apparently, he has Andre keeping tabs on me, wherever I go, and I got pretty pissed and shouted a lot of bad things to him”, she answers him.

“Oh, I guess you’ve pissed him off”, he mumbles monotone, but looks impressively at her.

She nods slowly as they all lapsed into an awkward silence, most of the young Serpents leaving, shaking their head dejectedly, leaving only Sweet Pea, Fangs and Toni surrounding them.

Sweet Pea stands up suddenly and looks over to her, “I’m sorry for saying all of that to you earlier, you didn’t deserve it.”

She nods, taken back by the apology, but smiles lightly at him before he leaves all the same.

Jughead mumbles, “I don’t understand why you’d agree to all of it in the first place, Dad.”

FP looks up from staring at the ground, muttering, “You know why, Jug.”

“No, I don’t”, Jughead frowns.

FP looks from Jughead to Veronica confusedly, and she suddenly remembers that she didn’t tell Jughead about the threat.

_Shit_

“You haven’t told him?” FP asks her.

“Tell me what?” Jughead looks at her questioningly.

She grimaces as Toni mutters something that sound suspiciously like _secrets_ and leave, Fangs following suit as the tension starts to build up again.

She doesn’t know how to begin, her heart beating fast from the guilt, “Jug, your father only agreed to this because my dad threatened him with your life.”

She watches his face fall as he splutters angrily, “A-and you left this out?!”

“I didn’t think you would be able to handle it, Jug, I needed you to focus”, she explains desperately, begging him to understand.

He stands up, glaring at her, “Who are you to think that I won’t be able to take it? Veronica, you know I can’t work with you if you keep secrets from me, right? You know that, so tell me why you kept it from me?!”

FP speaks before she can utter a hurried apology, “Jug, she did the right thing even if it was keeping secrets from you. You know you wouldn’t be able to handle it calmly, it would only provoke.”

Jughead lets out a noise of disgust before storming out of the bar through the back exit, slamming the door on his way out.

FP says as Veronica gets up to follow him, “Just cut him some slack, Veronica. Let him cool down.”

“I know”, she mutters but stops as FP calls her one more time.

She turns around to face him.

“Thank you for trying to help”, he says.

“Your welcome”, she says before turning to leave, feeling FP’s stare on her as she pushes the back door open.

She finds Jughead leaning against the wall of the building, smoking a cigarette. He turns away when he sees her and resists the urge to roll her eyes.

“Hey”, she says cautiously.

He nods at her but doesn’t say a word, blowing a puff of smoke. She goes to lean on the motorcycle, facing him.

“Can I have one?” she asks him, nodding at the roll he has in his hands.

He raises his eyebrows but throws her the Dunhill pack all the same, still not speaking a word. He passes her a lighter as she fishes one out and throws the pack back to him. She lights the cigarette, and inhales, the prickling feeling at the bottom of her throat reminded her of her New York days, when she used to smoke and drink literally whatever people passed her during the crazy drug-induced parties.

“I didn’t know you smoked”, Jughead says abruptly, taking back the lighter.

She chuckles, “I pretty much smoked everything while I was wasting away in New York. But I guess I should be the one asking you that. Didn’t take you for a smoker, Jones”

 “I only smoke when I’m angry, or when I find out the secrets people kept from me”, he says pointedly, and she can’t help roll her eyes from how much he sounded like a five year old. He laughs softly but continues on a more serious tone, “It helps calm me down, somehow. Relieves the stress.”

“Yeah, I know”, she says, blowing out the smoke and watches it disappearing slowly into the quiet morning.

“Listen, Jug –”, she starts but stops suddenly as the door swings open. Tall Boy comes out, stops and nods at them curtly before walking away, rounding off the corner of the bar. She watches Jughead staring at the spot Tall Boy so recently disappeared.

“Jug, I –”, she tries again, but this time he interrupts her.

“There’s nothing to say, Veronica. I know pretty well why you kept the threat away from my knowledge, I understand”, he sighs, inhaling the cigarette one last time and drops it the floor, stamping on it before continuing, “I’m not angry that your father threatened my dad with my life, I’m not even angry at you for keeping it a secret.”

“Then why the pouting face?” she teases him.

He glares at her, but there was laughter in his eyes, “It’s just, I don’t know”, he sighs again, looking away from her, “It felt like as if you didn’t trust me enough to tell me all of it, you know.”

“Jug, you’d know I’d trust you with my life”, she says softly, dropping the cigarette to keep both her hands on his shoulder, without the risk of burning his leather jacket with the tip of cigarette.

He looks at her, his piercing blue eyes wide with surprise, “You do?”

“Yeah, of course I do. But I just didn’t want you to feel distracted or anything”, she says, smiling at his reaction.

“Yeah, I totally get that. Look how much trouble I caused by just finding this much”, he laughs weakly.

She shakes her head, “It’s okay, Jones. You said you were panicking, and I had no right to be angry.”

“Then I had no right to be angry at you for –”

She interrupts him, “No, you do have every right to be angry. I kept a secret from you.”

He asks her ridiculously, “How did you keep your cool when you found out that Lenny Kowalski threatened your father with _your_ life?”

“You won’t believe me, but honestly, I _literally_ have no idea”, she chuckles.

He sighs, “Okay, you know what, no more secrets from now on.”

“No more secrets”, she agrees, smiling brightly. He laughs as she pulls him into a hug, feeling his arms wrapping around her waist, hugging her back.

“I thought FP was joking. Didn’t know Jones _is_ hooking up with the Lodge girl.”

They break apart suddenly to find Tall Boy standing near the door, looking at them with a mock unbelievable expression, his eyebrows raised.

“We’re just hugging, Tall Boy”, Jughead says angrily, “But oh, I forgot, you don’t have enough brain cells to differentiate between hugging and hooking up, guess it’s on overdrive due the words being similar on just the H.”

Tall Boy fakes an offended look, “Oh my, Jones, with that metaphoric mouth of yours, you could really get into her pants. Just be sure to snap us what an H looks like.”

He winks and disappears into the bar with a smug look on his face. She grabs Jughead by the sleeve of his jacket and pulls him back from leaping after Tall Boy.

“It’s not worth, Jug, leave it”, she says, rubbing a hand on his arms to calm him down.

He mutters angrily, his face red, “That son of a fucking bitch called you a hoe, I swear I’m going to –”

“C’mon, Jug, drop it. If you’re going to beat him up partly because he insulted me and partly also if you see it as a way to make it up with me, I’d love you for it but I’d rather not get your hands bloody”, she jokes, hoping to make laugh and calm down.

He does laugh, but his face turns back to being grim soon, “I’ve been wanting to punch him for a while anyway.”

“Why? What happened?” she asks him, eyeing the smoldering anger behind his eyes, as they walk back towards the bar.

“While finding out about Lenny Kowalski yesterday, I also learned that Tall Boy and those who stick around him are still running small drug jobs every now and then”, he tells her, his hand on the door.

She stops suddenly, “Really? But I thought your father had put a stop to all of that.”

He shakes his head, “Apparently not. I told my dad yesterday about it and we confronted Tall Boy. He said it was one of the few ways they were getting by with their lives. The thing is, it was true. That’s how he pays for everything himself. I wanted him to stop and find some other ways, but my dad allowed him to continue as long as he picks up only small jobs. Common drugs, nothing crazy or big.”

“But what if he gets caught? Is the risk really worth it?” she asks him incredulously.

“That’s what I told Dad, but he told me that they’d be careful because they also don’t want to get caught”, he says, shrugging. He goes inside the bar, and she follows him.

She sees a black car pass by in her peripheral vision, but she doesn’t fully register it as her mind ponder on Tall Boy’s works.

She grabs Jughead’s hand before they could go into the main area of the bar as she realizes something.

“What is it?” he asks her.

She whispers quickly, her mind running furiously, “Jug, what if he wants to get caught?”

“What?” he says, looking at her ridiculously, his eyebrows raised.

“Listen, you said Tall Boy has a grudge against FP, and he really likes to cause chaos. It’s possible he could be trying to get caught so everyone would be in trouble”, she explains hurriedly.

He frowns and looks at her in silence, and she could tell his mind was also working as he answers her slowly, “Possible, yeah. But not to be rude or anything, but it sounds quite far-fetched. Tall Boy may be an asshole but I don’t think he’d betray us like that. The Serpents are the only family he’s got, what will he do if we’re all gone?”

“Are you trying to see the good in him or wha –”

She was interrupted by his scoff, “C’mon, Veronica, you saw just seconds ago how much I wanted to punch him, I’m not trying to see in good in him. I just don’t think he’d betray us in that way. But unless…”

She trails off as she hears him saying _seconds ago_.

“Unless he’s working with my father!” she completes his sentence, looking into his eyes for confirmation.

He looks at her weirdly, “What makes you say that?”

She was too busy trying to slow down her breathing to complain to him for not catching up, “The car that passed outside, the black car, it had to be Andre’s! My dad did not give up the deal, he switched partners!”

“Whoa, are you sure that was Andre, Lodge?” he asks her.

“Yes, I’m hundred percent sure, whew, of it”, she tells him, aware that she’s hyperventilating from the speed of the information crashing into her mind.

“Hey, calm down, Lodge”, Jughead says, panicking as she leans against the wall to cool herself down, “What the hell, Veronica, are you okay?”

She doesn’t answer him until her breathing returns to normal pace, aware of his hands patting her arms awkwardly. She swats it away, laughing at his startled reaction.

“What the hell was that?” he asks her again.

She breathes in deeply, “Probably because I’ve smoked again in a really long time? Your cigarette is really strong, you know.”

“Yeah, it’s a special edition Dunhill”, he tells her.

“Oh, great”, she sighs as she straightens up, “We should go tell your dad.”

“Yeah”, he nods. They go back to the main area and find no presence of FP. They went to the bar and asked Toni.

Toni answers them, cleaning a glass with a spotty rag, “He went to his office upstairs, I guess. Want a Faderade to drink before going up to discuss whatever you have on mind?”

She was about to reject it as she really needed to focus, but Jughead speaks before she could, “Yes please, for her as well.”

“Roger that, Captain”, Toni smiles and whips up two tall glasses as she pours in the ingredients.

Veronica scowls at Jughead, who laughs at her expression.

“What? Don’t tell me you don’t want to drink. It’s fine though, I’ll take both”, he says, grabbing one of the drinks Toni sets for them on the bar table.

“We need to have our brains intact, Jug”, she scolds him, but nevertheless reaching over to grab the drink and gulps in down one go.

“Wow”, he says, mouth hanging open as he watches her shaking her head from the effects of the excess heavenly drink in awe. She and Toni laughs at Jughead’s slow pace, who scowls suddenly at something behind her. She turns around to find Tall Boy slipping into one of the bar’s high chair.

“Should we grill him for information?” she whispers to Jughead, who nods fervently. Toni watches them interestingly and joins them.

“What are you guys whispering about?” she whispers.

Veronica turns towards her, “We need him to tell us something, make something strong for him.”

“Gotcha”, Toni winks.

Cheryl is so lucky to have an amazing girl like Toni, Veronica thought as she watches her pour some old looking bourbon and pass the glass to Tall Boy.

“I didn’t order that”, he looks up at the bartender.

“I know you didn’t, but it’s your usual”, Toni says, her voice bright and chirp.

Tall Boy nods and raises the glass, “Well thank you, Topaz.”

Toni winks at them before walking up to the sink to clear up the dirty glasses. They sit there in silence, waiting for Tall Boy to finish his drink, and when he does, she nods at Jughead as it was the cue for them to slide up to him and ask innocent curious questions.

“Hey, Tall Boy”, Jughead greets him, sitting on one of his side, while Veronica sits on the other.

“If you’re here to trash talk me, Jones, go ahead if you’re looking to break your nose”, he laughs.

Jughead smirks, “Oh, no, Tall Boy. I’m not here to trash talk you or anything. I’m just here to ask about something that’s been bugging the back of my mind lately. Picked any jobs lately?”

“Why do you care? Going to stop me? Your father already gave me the clearance to do this, you know”, Tall Boy says.

“Yeah, I know, I was there when my dad allowed you to resume your dirty work, you idiot”, he snaps back.

“Dirty work that keeps me alive all the same. It’s a cruel world, Jones, you of all people should know that, after what went down Penny Peabody”, Tall Boy taunts, looking ahead in front of him.

She could see Jughead’s jaw clenching, so she decided to step in, “Anyways, we’re not here to argue. As Jughead asked, did you pick up any jobs lately?”

Tall Boy frowns at her, “Yes.”

“How recent?”

“Just this morning.”

“Who was it?”

“I don’t sell my dealer’s identity, Miss Lodge”, he says mockingly, “Doesn’t keep a clean record with the confidentiality and everything, makes it hard for me to pick up other jobs then.”

“As long as your dealer doesn’t know that you let something slip”, she smirks, “C’mon, I’ll buy you another drink.”

“Alright then.”

She turns around to face Toni, who was eyeing them curiously from the other end of the bar, where she was serving other customers.

“Toni, another glass of whatever he had, please”, she calls, smiling at the bartender, who nods at her.

“What do you want to know? I don’t know the name of the dealer”, Tall Boy sighs as he grabs the glass Toni passes him.

“That’s alright, but you do remember how he looked like?” she asks him expectantly.

Tall Boy’s face twist into a pondering expression, “Yeah, tall guy. Military haircut. Spanish.”

Jughead slaps a hand on the table as she mutters triumphantly.

“You know him?” Tall Boy asks them.

“Maybe”, she replies, and continues before he could ask her anything else, “And did he tell you what you’re dealing with?”

“Nothing to crazy, he said”, Tall Boy mutters, sipping on his glass, “Probably some hybrids, I don’t know.”

“Any chance that there could be exotic drugs coming through?” she queries.

Tall Boy chuckles, “Nothing but marijuana, little girl. As I’ve said, we deal only common drugs, nothing that attracts too much attention. If you’re looking for high end products, I’d suggested you go look for the Ghoulies. Although you won’t find any pure products, mostly contaminated.”

“Drop the job, please, Tall Boy.”

She turns around to find FP standing behind them (is he a ninja?). Apparently he seemed to have been there for a while, having overheard most of the conversation, enough to know what’s going on. He also has a .45 on his side holster, she notices, swallowing hard.

Tall Boy turns around to face his boss, frowning, “Why? You gave me clearance to do it anyway yesterday.”

“I did, but not this one please”, FP says.

“Tell me why”, Tall Boy says again, this time his voice raised a little higher, attracting the attention of fellow Serpents again.

FP turns towards her direction and eyes her questioningly, like as if he was asking for permission. She suddenly gets it (since when did she learn how to communicate with the Jones men using just eyes?). FP is asking for permission, for whether he can tell Tall Boy, or actually everyone in the bar that’s now observing the scene silently, due to their leader’s oppressive silence to Tall Boy’s request, about her father’s plan to rid the Serpents of their livelihood again.

She tells him, “The drug exchange you’re doing, is a set up planned by Hiram Lodge. The people you’re dealing with also are his enemies. He wants to expose you and them, thus getting rid of everyone effectively.”

Tall Boy leaps up suddenly away, as if he was repelled by some invisible force or was merely disgusted by the presence of a Lodge next to him.

“What the fuck”, he says loudly, his voice full of disgust and anger while most of the Serpents chimed in their ridicule at the news, agreeing with contempt or cursing the Lodge’s name.

“Calm down, all of you, calm down”, FP shouts, raising his hand to silent the shouting crowd, but to no avail as they keep on resisting, shaking fists at Veronica’s direction, and one of Tall Boy’s men throws an empty plastic cup at her. Toni suddenly pulls her by the hand, over the bar and grabs her to stand behind her, protecting her from anyone’s throwing range.

“Why should we calm down, FP?” Tall Boy says menacingly, his voice quieting everyone down better than FP’s did, as everyone wanted to hear what the main havoc wreaker has to say.

Tall Boy continues, addressing the silent bar standing in the middle of the attention, but Veronica feels like she’s the one amidst the angry glares, “Hiram Lodge is cooking something up again. This time, a recipe that’s poisonous, dangerous, and can kill us off with a one gulp. He tried it once, he‘s trying it again. We will not stand down and let the kids deal with it like last time, we take the matters into our own hands this time!”

The crowd hails in approval, Tall Boy’s goons being the catalyst, their enthusiasm seeping into the dormant brains of the other Serpents. She swallows hard and looks at Jughead, who seemed shocked by how much approval Tall Boy is getting. FP still stands where he was five minutes ago, jaws clenched and his eyes dark.

“We don’t have anything to go against Hiram, Tall Boy”, FP says, his voice calm and reasonable, but she can sense the controlled rage inside, waiting to be unleashed.

Tall Boy turns around dramatically, his eyes glinting and his face twisted into a mocking expression. He sneers, “Apparently, we do. We have an advantage against Hiram.”

“Pray tell me”, FP snarls.

Veronica already knows the answer, but she shivers nonetheless as Tall Boy’s gleaming eyes land on her, repulsion crawling through every bit of her skin as she sees him lick his lips greedily.

“We have his precious daughter. A Northside Princess”, he growls.

She notices the sudden recoil in some of the Serpents’ mood. Some start to look taken back, while some shook their heads, and some scoffs. But Tall Boy’s cheerleaders cheer loudly, and she freezes as she registers Tall Boy’s footsteps towards her. Before she could do more than scream or do anything to defend herself, despite Toni’s arms around her, she witnesses a flash of a beanie, and sudden sound of bone to skin echoing around the dim room, as everyone collectively gasps. She watches as Jughead slams his fist to the side of Tall Boy’s face again, the second hit so hard that Tall Boy propels backwards stumbling into his men.

Tall Boy roars, and a quick succession she doesn’t follow, she finds Jughead, Sweet Pea, Fangs and couple other teen Serpents in front of her, facing Tall Boy’s men with their pocket knives sheathed.

Which is laughable as Tall Boy pulls out a revolver from his back pocket.

“Put the gun down, Tall Boy!”, FP shouts, pulling out his .45 and points it at Tall Boy, who freezes, not even having been able to lift his gun up at arm’s level.

The room waited with baited breath, silently witnessing the scene. Tall Boy’s eyes flitted from Jughead to FP, and to the rest of the Serpents in the bar.

FP shouts again, “I said, put it down!” He cocks the gun and advances a step threateningly towards Tall Boy.

His men looks at him for instructions, but Tall Boy doesn’t give any sign as he lowers the gun slowly. He slides it into his pocket, with a disgusted grunt.

“That’s the right move”, Jughead taunts.

“Jug”, FP warns, putting his gun back.

The oppressive silence still persists even once everyone’s disarms. She notices everyone’s eyes are on her again, like as if the spotlight was switched on her once the squaring off was over.

“You okay?” Toni asks her.

“Yeah, I’m fine, fine”, she replies, knowing full well Toni wasn’t asking about her physical well-being.

FP addresses the bar again, and this time, everyone listens with undivided attention. Even Tall Boy, who had reluctantly backed down, Veronica could tell.

“I know all of you are angry. Angry at Hiram Lodge’s insistent attempt to eliminate our existence. I am, too. I want to kill him, as well”, he says, his voice loud and clear, echoing around the silent room, “But we cannot use Veronica as a leverage to get to Hiram. Not because I give a shit how he’d feel if we held his daughter a hostage, but because Veronica’s helped us. She got our ass out of the shit we didn’t even we were in. And believe me, she’s here to help again. If it wasn’t for her, Tall Boy would’ve done his job without smelling the scent, and that would the death of us. And so would I, so I can’t really blame him.”

The Serpents frown momentarily, and their faces fall into recognition at what FP’s saying.

He nods slowly, “Yes, I took this deal before Tall Boy. I didn’t want to at all, but the night Hiram told me to, he threatened my son’s life, and he seemed very convinced that he had someone following Jughead around. I saw no other choice but to agree. I was scared, and a coward for not coming to you all afterwards, I’m sorry. And it seems that Hiram found about his daughter’s frequent visiting to this bar with Jughead, and it woke him up to see how dangerous it was dealing with me. So now he’s using Tall Boy, someone who’s happy to pick up jobs like these, an easy person to convince.”

They all exchange looks and she can’t really read any them properly, their faces apprehensive and unconvinced, or something else, she doesn’t know.

“So what are we going to do?” Mustang asks.

Before FP can say another word, Veronica blurts, probably due to the intense feeling of guilt weighing on her shoulders as she looks at all the now down casted faces, “I’ll figure something out.”

Maybe she should ask Jughead to throw her a punch as well, knocking some sense into her as everyone turns to look at her.

She continues, trying to ignore her shaking hand, “I’ll think of something, I know plenty of what’s going to happen.”

She looks at all the faces staring at her, until her eyes land on Jughead, who smiles at her, and she feels a sudden increase in the courage that’s been simmering quietly somewhere in her body, the courage she needs to convince the Serpents that she’s willing to help.

“I promise, I’ll get you all out of this”, she says, hoping she won’t being eating her words soon.

***

She spots Archie standing with his parents, his red hair standing out amidst the chattering adults and running kids.

“Archiekins!” she calls, making her way through the crowd, practically bobbing her way to him like he was a destination she longed to reach.

He turns around to face her, and she watches his feature lights up, feeling her cheeks warming up at his goofy grin.

“Ronnie”, he says, opening his arms to hug her, and she sinks willingly into his embrace, trying not to smile stupidly.

“Hi” she says, breathily, breaking the hug (and the tension at their embrace as well).

He chuckles, “Hey.”

She turns around to his parents, Fred, who was standing with a weird look on his face, and Mary, who had a bright glint in her eyes, as if she was enjoying observing the teens.

“Hello, Veronica”, Fred says nonchalantly, and Mary just smiles brightly at her. She smiles back at them, feeling slightly awkward, before turning around to Archie poking her on her shoulder.

“What?” she asks, giggling at the expression he has on his face.

“Looks like the pretzel stall is famous, that’s a long line”, he says, pointing towards the said stall, and indeed, a long queue was present.

“So we should hurry if we want to buy the pretzels you promised”, he grins at her, and she suddenly remembers she promised him one three days ago, when she was having lunch with him after the unprecedented chaos that issued at the White Wyrm.

Mary says to them, after chuckling at Archie’s look asking for permission, “You kids go enjoy your time, c’mon.”

“Let’s go then”, she says, pulling his hand as she walks to the stall.

Mary calls after them, laughter in her voice, “Don’t let him wander around on his own! He won’t be able to find his way back home!”

“I won’t!” she calls back, laughing loudly at Archie’s red face.

It was Pickens Day. The late afternoon sun was hidden by thick grim clouds, but not necessarily making it a grim day for her. The people was lively, the unusual loud noises reminded her of everyday New York, the sound of burger patties being flipped on stoves, and the alluring smell of grilled sausages and sweet waffles somewhere, along with the presence of Archie, Veronica feels buoyant. It seems funny that it was only three days ago that she agreed to help the Serpents overthrow her father, who she spots standing behind the small temporary stage erected by the Andrews Construction, reading a piece of paper that’s supposed to be his speech. She swallows hard, and looks away before he could feel her glare on him. She turns to find Archie staring at her slightly open mouthed. He closes it and turns away quickly, his ears the same shade as his hair.

Usually, she would’ve pretended not to notice it, but she can’t care right now. This might be the only day she’s allowed to spend all the time with Archie, to have all the fun she could.

“What were you staring at?” she asks him teasingly as they joined the long queue of the pretzel stall.

He looks down, his hand rubbing his neck when he’s usually shy, “Um, your cat ears. They’re um, they look mesmerizing on you.”

“Oh, thanks”, she smiles, hoping she’s not blushing too much, her hands traveling up to adjust the cat ears.

Apparently, she’s performing with the Pussycats. Her father had come into her room late last night, just as she was preparing to get into bed.

“ _Mija_ , can I talk to you?” he asked, standing at the door

She resisted the urge to roll her eyes, “What is it, Daddy?”

He walked in slowly, “ _Mija_ , I am so sorry for that night, it was so terrible of me to give you the impression that I didn’t trust you.”

She remained silent as she watches her father sits on the edge of her bed gingerly, continuing, “Andre is longer keeping tabs of you, I am no longer keeping tabs of you either.”

“Glad to know, Daddy”, she said through gritted teeth, “Do you have anything else to say? Like ask me to perform with the Pussycats tomorrow?”

He faltered for a moment, but regained his composure immediately, his face settling into harsh lines, “Well, yes as well. But please do not take my withdrawal of tracking you as a favor I need you to repay, _mija_. I just want you to perform for me, for –”

“For your image? So that you can tell everyone that your daughter loves her Daddy and does everything he says because he’s a great supportive father, putting down the rumors that a violent row that had erupted in the eerie silence of the Pembrooke a month ago?” she interrupted.

“ _Mija,_ please. It’s nothing to do with a public image, nothing to do with gaining back your trust, because I know I had so unwillingly gave it away. I don’t deserve it back, I know that. But I just need you to perform this, please, for me. Will you do it?”

He looked at her solemnly, his eyes sending a silent plea to her.

“Fine”, she said, “I’m performing, but not just for you, Daddy.”

“It’s more than I could ask for. Thank you, _mija_ ”, he said, standing up to kiss her gently on her forehead, leaving nothing but the coldness that lingered on her skin, and the emptiness she felt in her chest.

“Hell of a crowd, huh?”

She shook her head, getting out of the replay of yesterday’s events as Archie notes the environment around them.

“What, did you just noticed because you’ve been busy staring at me?” she teases him, and feels pleased with herself as he turns red again.

His hands go up to rub his neck again, chuckling, “Maybe. So what song are you going to sing on stage today?”

“An upbeat cover of Duran Duran’s Union of the Snake”, she says.

He nods as they move up the sluggish line, “A good choice, considering the event and as well as it was one hell of a masterpiece in the New Romantic era.”

“I have to agree with that, Archiekins, but I never took you for a New Romantic type of guy”, she says nonchalantly.

He chuckles again, “You have no idea.”

She smiles at him, “But I have to disagree that the song’s not actually perfect for this occasion.”

“Why?” he asks, confused.

“While many people, like my father, would just think the lyric “the Union of The Snake is on the climb” is perfect for the message this event is trying to convey, that is, the union of the Northside and Southside”, she says, “But it’s kind of ironic.”

“What’s ironic about it?”

“Well, you see, even though Simon Le Bon had said it was a reference to Tantric sex, considering the line ‘breaking through the borderlines’ as something of transcending between the conscious and the subconscious minds, I interpreted the lyrics differently”, she says quickly.

He makes a face, “Wow, right. Can you slow down a little bit?”

She laughs, “My interpretation is much simpler, you’ll get a headache if you research more about Tantric sex.”

“And your interpretation has nothing to do with sex?” he asks, his voice quivering from forcing down his laugh.

“No, it has nothing to do with sex”, she giggles, and then sings, “’Nightshades on a warning. Give me strength, or give me a light’ talks about the whispered conspiracy of a New World order back in those days, when some people were actually living in fear to how fast the world’s evolving. ‘The Union of the Snake is on the climb’ clearly states about the rise of New World order or if you believe in such things as the Illuminati.”

“I don’t, do you?”

“Nah, but it’s what I think people back in the days would interpret it as”, she replies.

He frowns, “But why is it ironic then? Are you saying the Southside Serpents are some satanic cult?”

“No, no way, but I’d laugh myself to death imagining Jughead being possessed in a ritual”, she laughs, “But the lyrics kind of relate to what my father’s doing.”

“So your father is joining a satanic cult?” he jokes.

She slaps him on his arm playfully, “Will you stop it with the cult jokes? But anyways, it’s just –”

“Your father’s doing something bad”, Archie interrupts her.

She looks up at his face to see him observing her with his crinkling eyes, “You know?”

“Uh, yeah, your father’s famous on the internet. Couple of fraud crimes listed on his Wikipedia page. I’m sorry,” he mumbles.

“It doesn’t matter really”, she sighs, “He’s been like that ever since, and I’ve just only opened my eyes about a year ago.”

Archie remains silent for a while, his jaws clenched like he’s pissed at something, then says, “So that’s why you say it’s ironic. The conspiracies of your father and the things he’s done, and is doing. Do you know what he’s up to this time?”

“I honestly don’t know, Archie”, she sighs, “But you know what, at least it’s our turn up next. We can finally get your pretzel!”

He laughs lightly and they wait in silence as the mother in front of them orders a huge stack of pretzels, causing Archie to make a face, and Veronica wonders whether he’s scared the pretzels would finish before he could get one. She laughs mentally at his worried face, pondering whether she’s made the right choice lying to him about her knowledge of her father’s plans, but then again, there was no point telling him any of her problems, not when he has a problem of his own to deal with.

“Hi, can I get a pretzel, um, what flavor do you want, Archie?” she turns around to ask him.

“Pizza”, he pipes up. She rolls her eyes and repeats the order, smiling to herself that his preferences doesn’t change.

“I’ll have another one please, caramel flavored”, he orders.

“Are you getting two?” she asks him.

He smiles brightly, “I’m getting one for you.”

‘Archie, I’m –”

“Hey, you pay for mine, I pay for yours”, he says, getting out his wallet to pay for the snack.

“How do you know I like caramel pretzels?” she mumbles as she fishes out a five dollar note.

He chuckles as they make their way, roaming to nowhere in particular, “I guessed.”

“Stop lying”, she says, taking the sticky brown liquid-coated pretzel he passes her, taking a bite and savoring the sweetness that hits her taste buds, “Did you ask Betty about it?”

“Busted”, he laughs.

She raises her eyebrows at him, who smiles nervously back at her, before turning away to munch on his pretzel, the back of his neck red. Her stomach churns, not from the pretzel, obviously, but from the way the air seemed to crackle at just how tense the five second staring-at-each-other’s-eyes was.

She goes to a bench far off the main area of the event, and Archie follows her. They sit in an awkward silence, disturbed by the quiet crunch of their pretzels, and the occasional kids that come running their way.

“Thank you, Veronica”, Archie says suddenly, startling her to look at him.

She frowns, “For what?”

“For helping me out and everything”, he smiles at her, “For staying by my side and being a good friend.”

She giggles, “Aw, Archiekins, you’re so sweet.”

He opens and closes his mouth, like as if he was going to say something but thought the better of it. She swallows nervously and thought furiously of something to melt the awkwardness between them away, and thankfully, it comes in the form of a vanilla smelling blonde.

 “Betty! Over here!” she waves at her best friend, who was, no surprise, holding hands with none other than Jughead.

“Veronica! Archie!” she exclaims, making her way to them quickly, practically dragging Jughead along with her.

“Hey, Betty”, Archie greets them, “Hey, Jug.”

Jughead observes the distance between her and Archie and smirks to himself, for what seemed oblivious to Archie, but not to her. They weren’t even sitting that close, just like 5 _inches_ apart (she notes the mental sarcasm she uses)

“How are you holding up, bro?” Jughead asks Archie.

“I’m doing great”, he replies and leans back on the bench, “Veronica’s a life saver.”

Jughead fake coughs, “Yeah, she is.”

Betty frowns at Jughead, pinching the underside of his ribs, making him wince momentarily. Veronica pokes her tongue out at him.

Archie just looks at the exchange weirdly while keeping a straight face, but doesn’t say anything as he lifts his arms and puts it on the backrest behind Veronica.

She shivers unintentionally as his fingers brushes her nape. She looks down at her half-remaining pretzel and suddenly losing her appetite as she longs for something else hungrily. But she cannot also get what she longs for, so her choice is reduced to what she has in her hands.

She munches frustratingly on the last piece, trying not to look too dejected. Why is she even feeling dejected anyways, it’s not like Archie does not like her.

Betty, who seems to be the only one to notice the tension on Veronica’s face (and someone who wanted to _help_ , not _tease_. Screw you, Jughead) says, “Well, I’ll leave it to you guys. I have to buy Jughead’s burgers, they’re about to finish.”

“Sure”, Archie agrees before she could. It seems like she wasn’t the only _one_ who wanted some alone time. Well, that’s a win, and she decides to ignore the foreboding feeling in her chest, knowing too well she shouldn’t.

“Betty’s so nice, you know”, Archie says after waving the couple off.

She nods in agreement, then continues because she doesn’t want them to fall back into the awkward silence again, “She used to have a crush on you, you know.”

What? Really?” he asks incredulously.

“Yeah, she was in love with you ever since you guys were kids, I guess. Until she got up the nerve to ask you out in sophomore year but you rejected her”, she says, but continues quickly as his face twists into a horrified expression, “Not a full on rejection. You could never hurt Betty, but you didn’t feel for her like she did for you.”

“Brotherly feelings, right?” he asks.

She nods, “Yeah. Don’t feel guilty, she got over it quick.”

“I can tell, she’s with Jughead for a long time now”, he laughs, “They’re absolutely made for each other.”

Dusting her hands to get rid of the crumbs, she agrees, “Yup, it’s the best thing when you find the people that you were meant to be together, the people you were meant to fall in love with.”

“Have you? With anyone?” he asks.

She turns around her body, facing him and shrugs, “Maybe once. You?”

He chuckles, “Considering the fact that I was just born like a week ago, I don’t think so.”

She laughs, and is very well aware of how everything is zoning in on him now. The voices of the crowd and the soft music all fade away as blood rushes into her ears, staring at the boy sitting next to her.

He swallows, “Since I don’t remember, but you do. Do you think I found someone?”

“Yeah, you did.”

“Do you know who was it?”

She’s very well aware of how close they were, aware of the crackling air between, the space between emitting some sort of heat that needed to be extinguished by their bodies touching. She swallows the lump in her throat and ignore all blaring signs in her mind that tells her not to tell him about their relationship. Should she?

Archie leans in ever slightly, his features more serious and his eyes were on her lips. She was frozen, she couldn’t move, much less try to think of anything. She was torn between two sides, whether to run away, or whether to pull him in. She doesn’t want to do it, but she _also_ wants to do it.

She jumps as her father’s voice blares through the speakers, echoing around the garden.

“Ladies and gentleman, welcome! I would like to start off…”

Archie leans back, something like disappointment on his face, “Don’t you have to go perform?”

“Oh, shit. You’re right!” she jumps up and pulls him along with her as she ran across the field to the stage where her father was still giving his boring stupid meaningless speech.

She swallows again, trying to get rid of how lost she was in the moment with Archie. She lets go of him in the crowd which were all gathering to watch the performance. He smiles at her, “Go break a leg, Ronnie!”

She smiles at him one more time before running off to where the Pussycats were gathered behind the stage.

Josie pulls her into a hug, “V, long time no see!”

“Been one hell of a long time”, she laughs, breaking the embrace and continues as her father announces the Pussycats over the speakers, “Shall we get this started?”

***

She was breathless as the song ended. It wasn’t hard, once the music overtook her and her voice started syncing with Josie’s. The crowd applauses loudly, and among the many heads and faces, she spots the red-headed one she’s been searching for, everyone else blurring out suddenly. She grins giddily at him, who was clapping enthusiastically along with everyone, a dorky proud smile on his face that sends her heart fluttering into outer space.

She gets off the stage with Josie and finds Archie waiting for her. Without waiting for him to say anything, because he did look like he wanted to, she jumps into his arms, wrapping her arms around his neck, laughing happily.

“That was incredible, Ronnie”, he says, chuckling.

She smiles brightly at him, breaking the hug, “Thanks, Archie.”

“Archie Andrews!” Josie exclaims.

He smiles at her, “Josie McCoy, so glad to finally meet you in person.”

“Oh, wow, I feel like I’m meeting a fan”, Josie laughs, and continues to tease him, “So Veronica wasn’t the only you remember?”

Archie blushes, “Oh, no. I heard about you when Veronica told me she’s performing with the Pussycats.”

“Chill out, I’m just joking”, Josie giggles, pushing the red head playfully.

He rubs his neck, saying, “You guys were incredible, really. And Ronnie was amazing.”

“How many times are you going to tell me that, Archie?” Veronica asks, but smiles all the same.

Archie opens his mouth but closes it. Josie rolls her eyes at them, muttering, “Ugh, you guys have always been cute.”

Veronica sighs mentally, hoping he doesn’t get any hint Josie’s giving. He frowns momentarily but chuckles again nonetheless.

She waves goodbye at the Pussycats as she heads off with Archie, her hands hooked around the loop of his pocketed arms, just because she’s like neat that. They walk to nowhere in particular, and he listens to her go on about the experience from on stage, and he tells her how incredible and amazing she was when she was singing, lost in the music. They end up in the same bench, sitting in silence as they both observe a few people waiting in queue for a cupcake stall.

The sun was already gone, and the world was in a state of semi darkness, the bluish orange mixture of the dusk, helped along with the tiny yellow bulbs hung along the trees next to where they were sitting, and among countless others surrounding the field like a bright perimeter. The silence wasn’t awkward, it was, peaceful, in fact. Tranquil, she could say, as she turned around to face Archie, the features of his face thrown into a dark bluish and yellow accent due to the lights around them. He leans closer to her and she knows what he wants, and she could give it to him. She would give it to him, as she leans in closer as well, unwavering eye contact as the space between them closes. But the thing is, is this what she wants? Is going so willingly back to the boy whose heart she broke a good idea? Is going back to the arms she so feels safe when they’re around her, but also keeping a secret that could, _could_ potentially make those arms recoil and withdraw from her a good idea? She doesn’t think much of it when his hands slowly cups her face and pulls her in. She closes her eyes and gives in, trying not to feel guilty for not feeling guilty.

Everything falls into place as his lips lands on hers. It was like as if the last piece was attached to a jigsaw and everything came into picture. Or maybe it was like the first time a human saw the sun rise again, the familiarity, the _happiness_ , the warmth it spreads through her, coursing through her blood streams and setting her skin on fire as she kisses him back, her hands also cupping his face, savoring the soft feeling of his lips. She breathes in while his mouth covers her and the tip of his tongue passes over her lips, slightly whimpering from how tremendously earth-shattering the sensation was.

She pulls away after a moment, her hands still on his face, breathless and her face probably flushed. Archie’s finger move to swipe the strand of hair from her face, the movement sending her into an almost-cardiac arrest.

“Archie”, she whispers, her thumb caressing the side of his face.

He breathes, “That was, amazing.”

She starts to laugh, and he joins her, chuckling. Before she could pull him back to her mouth, to where he belongs, she was interrupted a not-so familiar voice.

“Archie?”

Veronica whips around to find a chestnut-haired Sammy, Archie’s ex (or practically a fling as it was something he did to forget her, according to Jughead), holding a squished strawberry cupcake in her hand. Her heart drops to her stomach, or actually to the floor.

“Uh, hi”, Archie says, confusion etched over his face.

Sammy nods skeptically, “Amnesia.”

Archie swallows, “Uh, yeah. Do I know you?”

Sammy doesn’t say anything, but her eyes travel over and lands on where Veronica’s hand was still on Archie’s face. Veronica quickly pulls it away.

Archie turns and looks at her helplessly, mouthing silently, “Who is she?”

Veronica clears her throat, sighing mentally before saying, “Archie, this is Sammy Bennet, um, your ex-girlfriend.”

She grimaces at his stunned face, his eyes flitting between Sammy and her quickly.

“If that was what I was”, Sammy grunts.

Veronica mutters, “You were dating him.”

“Yeah, if you called “one side of the relationship was still pining over your ass” dating”, Sammy replies, shrugging.

“W-what?” Archie asks incredulously, disbelieve so pronounced in his scowls.

“You don’t know?” Sammy frowns at him, while Veronica tries her best to signal the girl to shut her mouth without making any noise.

“Know what?”

Veronica clears her throat, hoping it would say something past the thick skull of the girl standing in front of her. Sammy sighs, probably now getting the situation Archie’s in.

“Well, I’ll leave it right there”, Sammy says, turning around to leave, wheels probably spinning in her head.

“What?” Archie says again, looking lost.

Veronica sighs, knowing Sammy wouldn’t want to make things hard for Archie, but hey, she could it make it hard for her, couldn’t she? She jerks her head up in time as Sammy turns around to say, winking, “Veronica, sorry if I’m interrupting anything. God knows you were trying to get him back.”

Perhaps if there was sizable chunk of rock somewhere in her vicinity, she would’ve seized it and lobbed it over the head of the now retreating chestnut son of a bitch.

Archie stands up suddenly, “Hey, Sammy! Sammy! What do you mean by that?!”

But to no avail as she rounds a corner and disappears, darkness swallowing her whole, just like all the stupid fluttering feeling inside of her was replaced by a grim nervous churn. Like as if she found a test paper easy as hell, only to get it back and realized she failed. She braces herself for an inevitable shouting or a cold snarl from Archie. But he doesn’t do any of that. He sits back down on the bench, his hands covering his face.

“Archie”, she whispers, cautiously reaching out to touch his arms. He doesn’t recoil when she touches him, and the burning sensation is nowhere to be found at the connection, like as if everything’s darkened and extinguished. Only the cold and the emptiness remains.

His hands goes down to his laps and he leans back on the armrest, groaning with frustration.

“What the fuck is going on?” he laughs sarcastically after a while.

“Archie, I can explain –”

He interrupts her, “Will you, Veronica? Will you explain now and not brush it away for another time?”

She swallows hard, her heart painfully beating in her chest. This is _definitely_ not how she envisioned this night to end. She wishes she’d never gave in, never even kissed him. God, why was she so stupid?

Archie sighs when she doesn’t say anything.

“You know, I suspected there was something between us, Veronica”, he goes on in her silence, “Ever since the first day I saw you. It was like, there was some tension around us, I didn’t know what it was, what it _is_. My mom let it slip during breakfast that day before you came to take me for a walk, I ignored it, never thinking I’d be good enough for you. Then comes the day, where your father just casually told me that I broke your heart. And then comes Josie with ‘you guys have always been cute’. And now Sammy?” he says.

“Archie, you –”

He raises a hand to silence her before continuing, “Did I break your heart, Veronica? Did I hurt you?”

She can’t stop the tears from falling as she looks into his pained face, and it hurts so, _so_ fucking much in her chest, as the pain blooms everywhere.

“No, Archie, you would never –”

“Then what have I done? What was it between us, Ronnie?”

She stands up, wringing her hands in an effort to explain, not all, but some to him, “Archie, w-we dated, b-but.” She falters with her words.

“But what?” Archie asks her, standing up as well.

She doesn’t say anything, because she can’t. She won’t.

“I thought it was only me and you, and something happened or we fell out. Then I find out that I’ve also been dating Sammy as a distraction from you? Why would I need distraction?”

“Archie, can we just please ignore all of it for now, let’s just –”

“Veronica, I’ve been ignoring it for days now. I can’t do it now, if we, if we are going to do this. The things that just happened between us. I need to know, please”

She doesn’t mean to, but her head shakes to the side slightly, like as if she was rejecting his request. It was late, and nobody was around anymore, the quiet night punctured by the chirping of crickets hiding in the vegetation surrounding them.

Archie whispers, his voice barely audible over the silent night,

“Will you ever tell me, Ronnie?”

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m sOrRy gUys :(  
> That was part 2 or chapter 6, whatever you wanna call it.  
> Buckle up ladies and gentlemen, the next few chapters are going to pick up the pace, for the things that’s happening between Veronica and her father, the Serpents and definitely Archie as well!  
> And as always, thank you for your comments, they mean the world to me x  
> Go send me some inspirations on tumblr @theravenhairedprince.  
> ps. every chapter is unbeta'd, so do forgive me for the mistakes


	7. Chapter 7

_I feel so cold and I long for your embrace_

 

Veronica curses at the loading screen. It had, apparently, been loading for like _5 minutes_. Frustratingly so, the Pembrooke’s internet connection was good, tops a 10mbps, so the fault was probably somewhere in the servers of the dingy dim-lit dungeons of the White Wyrm. She texts Jughead vehemently.

**_Jug, it’s been loading for like fucking 5 minutes._ **

He replies a minute later, much to more Veronica’s cursing.

_Have some patience, sweetheart._

She rolls her eyes and throws her phone to the side, and just as she leaned back on the headboard of her bed, staring at the stupid hypnotizing rotating circle that was threatening to make her fall asleep, it disappears and a live stream of a warehouse replaces the loading screen.

It was late at night, two days after Pickens Day. The deal was supposed to happen in an exact 15 minutes. And the live stream she was watching on her screen, along with Jughead and some other Serpents back in the Wyrm, was pretty much her idea. With the help of Trev, a Serpent computer genius, they hacked into her father’s laptop and found the model and descriptions of the cameras he had purchased. With that sufficient information, Trev hacked into the signal transmitted by the camera, which apparently was only going into her father’s laptop, but now it was going through a discreet server Trev had built from scratch, reaching Veronica’s and the Serpents’ computer as well, without alerting her father in anyway. Hands up, Trev, you the boss, she had said, patting his shoulder gratefully.

But what was about to go down, wasn’t her idea. Despite her promise that she’ll figure something out, she couldn’t. Not after what happened with Archie. She shuts her eyes tight, trying to get rid of his face from that god forsaken night, but of course, the darkness against her eyelids just made it easier to revisit.

_“Will you ever tell me, Ronnie?”_

_He looks at her with pleading eyes, the usual twinkling in his eyes gone, replaced by nothing but the reflected lights that seemed desperate._

_“Archie, I promise I’ll tell you, I just need –”_

_He interrupts her, “Time? Time is indefinite. How long do you need, Ronnie? I can’t wait forever.”_

_She remains silent, wiping her tears and she sees him grimaces, like he was in pain. In pain for making her spill tears, but he shouldn’t be. She might as well deserved this wholly._

_He starts, “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have pressed. It’s alright, it doesn’t matter –”_

_“But it does”, she chokes from the clog in her throat, the sudden spasm across the muscles of her paining heart._

_“Ronnie, I –”_

_“Just give me three days, Archie, three days. Then I’ll tell you everything”, she promises him._

_“Three days? For what, Ronnie?” he asks incredulously._

_“There’s things I need to figure out, Archie”, she says, not meeting his eyes._

_Archie frowns, “Figure what out? What part to tell me and what not to?”_

_She remains silent again, and again, she couldn’t blame for being all that angry. He has every right._

_“Wait, is it stuff you said about home? Is there something going on with your dad?” he says suddenly, his eyes widening at her shocked tear-streaked face as it probably confirms it for him._

_“I –”_

_His faces turns into a complete different expression, as if all the anger and frustration disappears, “Ronnie, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know you were still dealing with stuff –”_

_She cuts him again, “No, Archie, it’s not your fault that there’s stuff going on at my home, and neither does it have to do anything with us. What happened between us is only just us, Archie. But please just give me three days until this is all over.”_

_“Ronnie, what do you mean? Your dad is a mobster, are you planning something? Isn’t it dangerous, I mean?” he asks concernedly._

_She raises her hand to silence him before he could continue firing more questions because her head cannot take it anymore, throbbing painfully on her right temple._

_“Three days, Archie. I’ll tell you everything you want to know, please.”_

_He remains silent as he looks into her eyes. His eyes were sending a silent plea, but unlike the previous one which was asking for the need to know, this plea asks her to let him in, to let him help._

_But she can’t. She can’t let her feelings overtake her again, with what just happened when she so willingly gave into it. She can’t succumb to her emotions if this is the outcome of doing so; two teenagers trying to figure the shit happening in their life, one with amnesia and one having daddy issues (sounds like a cruel joke played the universe, really). She won’t let him in until he knows everything she’s keeping from him._

_“Three days?” he asks her for confirmation._

_She nods shakily, “I promise.”_

_“Jughead better not be needing any help on the third day, Ronnie”, he says, laughing slightly._

_“Yeah, he better not”, she chuckles, her voice watery._

_They remained in an uncomfortable silent, the crickets chirping sounding unnaturally quiet due to how much blood she has rushing in her ears when things escalated unexpectedly._

_Archie says after a while, “C’mon. Let’s go home. It’s already late.”_

_He doesn’t reach his hand out for her to take, like he usually would._

Her mind snaps back as something moves across her screen, the color shifting against her closed lids. She opens her eyes to find two Serpent jacket cladded bikers, both wearing hooded masks, roaring into the warehouse. Tall Boy and Mustang cuts off their engine and stands next to their bikes, waiting silently for Kowalski’s men. A minute later, a black sedan rolls into the warehouse, tires scrunching against the floor on her ear budded ears. She swallows nervously, as she goes through what the Serpents had plan in her mind.

It was simple. Before Kowalski’s men could do more than say a word or fish out a package, Tall Boy tells them that they’re being set up by Hiram Lodge. He tells them that a camera has been planted which will expose everything they’re doing. The contact Tall Boy was given to by Andre wasn’t a direct one. It didn’t reach Kowalski or his capos in any way, so there was no chance for the Serpents to alert them before hand, as all the details were passed through Andre or someone else working for Hiram. The plan wasn’t anything crazy, great, or recommended for anything to sound like getting rid of all the bad guys coming to Riverdale. To be honest, it didn’t even sound much like a plan. It wasn’t ideal, whatever it is that they were doing. But Kowalski’s has nothing against the Serpents, and they’d like to keep it that way. They’d want to play the victim in the situation, diverting all of Kowalski’s attention to Hiram. What more could they do but tell the truth? The thing is, and Jughead had voiced what she thought, last night at the bar when and where everyone was sitting around them.

_“But if we do this, wouldn’t it enrage Kowalski further? He threatened Hiram with Veronica’s life, what’s to say this could actually give him a motive to do so. Like putting her life in actual danger.”_

_Veronica speaks, before anyone else could voice their concern, “It doesn’t matter. Really, it doesn’t.”_

_“Veronica, you can’t be serious –”_

_“She isn’t Serpent, Jughead”, Tall Boy says solemnly._

_Jughead snaps, “Tall Boy, how many times do I have –”_

_She interrupts him, “He’s right, Jug. Even though I’ve done a lot to help the Serpents, I’m not part of you guys. Members of the Serpents come first, doesn’t it?”_

_Truthfully, her stomach was bubbling from the fear. Jughead slams his fist on the table suddenly, startling Toni into spilling her drink._

_“Maybe we could add a bit of lie in it”, she trails her thoughts_

_FP looks up at her, “What do you mean?”_

_She stands up and paces around the room, “Lie a bit. Say that the camera is probably transmitting to the police. Say it’s a possibility. It can scare them away for a while. Kowalski definitely don’t want it coming back to him somehow, so he’ll keep away from Riverdale for a while.”_

_“But then what’s the point of all this then? I thought we were doing this so Kowalski would get angry and get rid of Hiram for us!” Mustang chimes in. The other Serpents nodded fervently, and Tall boy hit his glass on the table repeatedly in approval._

_FP spoke before she could think of a counter-argument, “We don’t have to worry about that. There are many ways Kowalski can take out his wrath on Hiram. He can leak whatever he knows about the SoDale plans, for one.”_

_“Alright then”, Mustang grumbled._

_Jughead stayed silent while the other Serpents nodded in agreement. She made eye contact with him, his jaw clenched as he thought over her idea. In the end, he nodded and she sighed of relief._

She sits up straighter, propping herself into a more comfortable position as she watches through the crappy quality stream, two men wearing black suits getting out of the black sedan. One of them takes off of their glasses and approaches the Serpents while the other goes to the trunk of the car, opening it with a clunk. She swallows as she sees the glint of metal on the side of man shaking hands with Tall Boy, the taller of the two Serpents. Veronica could not really tell from the flickering quality of the video, but she was definitely sure it was a gun.

“I did not know masks were also involved”, the man asks, his voice cold with suspicious. Somewhat familiar as well

“Of course not, we thought we wanted to be more careful. But before we get on with this”, Tall Boy says, “There’s something we need to tell you.”

The man, whose hands were just lowered from the hand shake, flicks towards his side, landing lightly on his gun. The other guy looks up at them, hands still on the lid of the trunk, confusion probably etched on his face, she guessed.

“What is it?” the man growls.

Tall Boy moves back one step before saying, ‘Hiram Lodge is setting us up.”

In a quick succession of guns cocking and a trunk being slammed shut in the warehouse she hears through her headphones and a crash that echoes from her father’s study, she gasps as she watches Tall Boy and Mustang squaring off with Kowalski’s men.

“What the fuck do you mean?” the man says angrily.

Mustang throws caution to the wind, “Listen, we don’t have anything against you, but it’s all Hiram’s doing. If you look carefully to your 8’o clock, there behind all the shelves, you’d see a beeping red light. That’s a camera Hiram is using to expose the shit out of us. Shit might be sending all of these directly to the police station, we don’t know.”

“Why the fuck did you even come then?” the other man shouted.

Tall Boy says, “We don’t want anything against Kowalski. We have nothing against you people, so our warning of Hiram’s threat and probably more plans that he has, is of goodwill. Let’s all lower our guns, now.”

The two men does not lower their weapon, but turns towards the mentioned place, one of them shining a torch over the shelves.

“Holy fuck”, the man who was at the trunk mutters.

The man who was closer to the camera walks towards it slowly. He was very close to it now that she can make out his face, and feels something jolt in her stomach as she realizes who he was.

_Adams_

One of her mother’s ex-capos until he had betrayed her family for Kowalski’s big sum of money after his visit to Riverdale, Adams had been her father’s bodyguard. She watches with fear and anger as he inches closer to the camera, her knuckles itching like as if she wanted to throw a punch at his face. But that would only result in cracking her screen, getting rid of her only source to know what’s happening. Although Adams pretty much sees to that as he raises his gun and fires.

The bang against her ears were cut short as the screen goes black, but another crash comes from her father’s study followed shortly by a shout of frustration. She lowers her arms that had been raised in reflex, and tries to calm her breathing. Her heart was thumping against her chest as she leans her head back on the head board, steadying herself mentally as her breathe slows down. She snatches her phone up and texts Jughead. His text pops up and he answers her question before she could _even_ press _send_.

_They’re on their way back. Kowalski’s men bolted after that. Everyone’s celebrating here._

She sighs, expelling the waste gas, and maybe all the tension, guilt and responsibility she’s been carrying around for two weeks as well, as she feels like something’s been lifted off her chest, an overwhelming uncomfortable feeling evaporating from her lungs. Her phone buzzes again and she looks down to see Jughead sent her another text.

_I know everyone’s happy and celebrating, and not wanting to be a mood spoiler, there’s something bugging my mind._

She frowns as she replies,

**_What, so you’d thought you’d come and spoil my mood? What is it?_ **

_Whatever just happened could still be used against us, Veronica. The recording of us squaring off, the arguments and the meeting at such a time late at night, seems all so fishy to an outsider’s POV. Don’t you think your father could still do something with that?_

She leans her head back again as she thought over his words in her tired brain. Funny enough, she already knows the answer as she types back,

**_Maybe, but I don’t think so, Jug, not after what happened. Even though my dad could’ve brushed it all by saying that his name was just an accusatory or pointing fingers, Adams was there._ **

_Adams?_

**_The man who shot the camera. He used to be my father’s capo. If my dad uses the footage, Adam’s involvement could somehow lead it all back to him. I’m sure he won’t risk it._ **

_Damn, you’re fast, Lodge. So did Kowalski just helped us get rid of your dad as well?_

**_Maybe. And speaking of my dad, he’s frustrated af. I heard two crashes coming from his study and a shout, so I guess we did it._ **

_Yeah, we did it._

**_I’ll check in on him._ **

_Be careful, Veronica._

**_I will_ **

_And thank you for everything. Thank you for saving our asses a second time._

**_It was a group effort, Jones._ **

_Whatever, just accept my thank you will you? I don’t want to write a long ass paragraph as a thank-you note or a laudation damn it._

**_You write anyways, so you might just well do that._ **

She pauses for a moment as he sends a face-palm emoji before continuing,

**_But you’re welcome._ **

She sets her phone aside and shuts down her laptop, putting it aside on the bedside cabinet before gingerly getting out of her bed, her toes quietly hitting her floral-pattern carpet. She opens the door and slips out quietly. She finds her dad leaning against the kitchen sink, his head bowed down like as if he was in a prayer, holding a half empty glass of Old Forester instead of a rosary. He jerks up when he hears her approach.

‘Veronica”, he says, his voice low and tired, but clearly surprised, “Shouldn’t you be asleep, _mija_?”

She grimaces as she lies, “I was, Daddy, but I heard voices. Are you okay?”

Hiram narrows his eyes but doesn’t give anything else away, his face unreadable as he schools it into a blank expression, “Yes, everything’s alright. I just tripped over my beer collection back in the study, so I’m having this one now, even though it’s meant for special occasions.”

He raises the glass as an indication. She nods silently and watches him drink until he drains the last remaining drop, setting the glass in the sink. He closes the bottle and puts it back in the cabinet, and walk to his bedroom silent, his eyes a brooding storm but yet his face was unreadable.

“Goodnight, _mija_ ”, he says before shutting the door with a snap that leaves the room echoing with it.

“Goodnight, Daddy.”

She sighs and heads off to her room, her head unnaturally quiet, but she’s thankful that it was. Thankful that this was all over. Maybe if even for a while. And for a while is all she needs to fix her other problem, she thought as she lays down on her bed. She thought of nothing but wishes for happier as she drifts off to sleep.

***

She wakes up suddenly, startled and groans as she opens her eyes. The bright light streaming through the thin curtains hits her with such force that she has to turn around and bury herself into her pillows, shielding her face from the glaring brightness. As her mind slowly gets rid of the sleep haze, she picks up her head and searches for her phone, clicking the power button to see the time.

_1:31 PM_

She sits up with a jolt, realizing she hasn’t set an alarm clock and apparently had overslept. She also remembers she was going to call Archie for breakfast, but now that’s a no-go since its afternoon. Her hand goes up to slap her forehead in frustration as the other rips the sheets off her body, grumbling dejectedly as she makes her way to the bathroom. She comes out with a toothbrush in her mouth to get her phone, which she left on her bed, and dials Archie as her mind works frantically for something to make up her incompetence at her time-management the day she’s supposed to manage time properly.

“Hey, Ronnie. I was wondering when you’d call. You okay?” he says immediately as he picks up.

She replies, “I’m okay.”

‘Are you eating something?” he asks her.

She chuckles, “I’m brushing my teeth. Forgot to set an alarm.”

“So you just woke up.”

“Yup.”

“Right.”

She silently waits for him to say something, perhaps be the one to start the topic on her promise but he just clears his throat awkwardly.

“5 this evening, I’ll come pick you up”, she says suddenly.

She hears an intake of breath from the other end of the line, “Oh, right. The thing. So everything’s all right now?”

“Thank god it is”, she replies, but doesn’t continue.

Archie clears his throat again, “5 then. I’ll see you, Ronnie.”

“Yeah, see you, Archiekins”, she says and hangs up, but not before she can hear his chuckle.

She throws her phone on the bed and turns back to the bathroom for a shower, her stomach bubbling with anticipation, and she admits, fear and nervousness.

***

She walks into her father’s study cautiously, opening the door softly. He looks up from the laptop he’s typing furiously away, but his face was still ominously blank.

“ _Mija_ ”, he says, his eyes boring into her.

“Daddy”, she says, smiling before continuing, “I need to ask you a favor.”

He sighs, shuts down his laptop before turning to her, “What is it?”

She breathes in with anticipation, “I want the Firebird. For tonight.”

“What for?”

“To pick up Archie.”

“Oh, so you are back with him now?” he muses.

She grumbles annoyingly, “ _Daddy_.”

He chuckles lightly, “You can take it, of course.”

“Really?”

Hiram stands up, shrugging, “Yes, why not? To be honest, it’s yours, Veronica.”

“I-It’s mine?” she stutters.

“For your 17th birthday. I haven’t given you anything since you’ve been away”, her father says nonchalantly, opening his right drawer and takes out the Pontiac key. He looks at it for moment and throws it to her.

She catches it with fumbling hands, mumbling, “Thanks, Daddy.”

Hiram smiles a thin smile, one that reaches his eyes quite unnaturally, and she wonders whether it was forced.

“Your welcome, _mija_. Just, don’t let go of the person who makes you happy. Makes you happier than I ever could”, he says, the smile still on his face.

She has no idea, not a single bit of what could possibly being on in her father’s complex head. His uncharacteristic behavior has her mind at cross roads, and his unreadable face has her wondering what the hell her father has possibly planned.

“Daddy, are you okay?” she asks uncertainly.

Hiram’s blank expression drops off his face, only to be replaced with a one she knows so well. She’s seen it in her face sometimes, or actually, almost every time that she looks into the mirror nowadays. He was tired.

“I’m fine, _mija_. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have work to do.”

His eyes flick towards the doors as an indication she’s dismissed. She smiles at her father one more time before leaving the study, trying to ignore the insubstantial twinge of regret for betraying her father again, and maybe, the hurt she feels knowing that she’s tired him out of choices and ways to protect their family.

***

“Get in, Teen Outlander”, she calls him, slowly braking as she pulled up in front of the Andrew’s house.

Archie was standing on the front porch, wearing his usual letterman jacket, his auburn hair swiped back making it looked like it was on fire illuminated from the dying afternoon light. His mouth stretches into a big grin as he steps down the porch and opens the door.

“New ride?” he asks her as he gets in, closing the door.

She shifts gear and starts driving, a destination in her mind as she says, “Yeah, my dad gave it to me.”

He frowns, “Your dad?”

“For my 17th birthday, he says, even though that was like two months ago”, she replies laughing.

“Right”, he says, still frowning but smiles nonetheless.

She drives past the houses on Elm Street and rounds towards Sweetwater road. The tall maple trees on either side of them whishes away in a green blur as she accelerates a little bit, causing her hair to fan into Archie’s face somehow. They laugh for a while but fall into an uncomfortable silence. Not really surprised she is, that he doesn’t try to play along with her, she knows there’s still the tension and unsaid things between them.

“Where are we going?” he asks her after a while.

“You’ll see.”

They remain quiet for the rest of the drive, the afternoon light slowly turning orange as the world around them falls into a pre-sunset shade. Veronica finds the clearing on the path, slowing down as she turns into it. She feels Archie’s eyes on her but she doesn’t say anything as they arrive at the banks of Sweetwater River. This particular bank was a great spot for a picnic, she had decided, as it was quite a large, smooth and dry area, and the other side of the river had shorter maple trees than usual, hence giving more view to the sunset. It was still high above the tree tops, but the sky was already orange, the clouds thrown into a glaring accent at the horizontal rays, and the time was already 5:30.

“A picnic?” he says, smiling approvingly as she parks the car.

She giggles at his expression, cutting off the engine and opening the door to get out, “The blankets are at the back seat, go get them.”

Archie does as he’s told and follows her towards the bank, who brought a picnic basket that carried some sandwiches and drinks along with her. Nobody barely picnics nowadays, so she had to dig the basket from the store room back at the Pembrooke and cleaned off the dust that had accumulated on it due to lack of use. Stopping at a spot of ground that seemed perfectly level and was the perfect distance from the flowing water, she nods at Archie. She waits and watches as Archie lays the blanket on the floor, adjusting here and there to make it perfectly smooth and comfortable, a single strand of hair falling down over his forehead as he bends down to do his work.

“There! Done!” he exclaims happily, like as if he was a child that successfully built a sand castle. He sits down and she follows suit.

Archie asks as he opens the basket she sets down, “Ham sandwiches?”

“Nah, turkey”, she replies and takes one for herself, “My chef made them.”

“They’re nice”, he says, his mouth full and his jaw working to chew the food.

He continues after he swallows, “They’re actually quite nice”, and grabs another one, swallowing it whole making her stop in the action of raising her half completed sandwich to her mouth. She watches him as he grabs a third, a fourth, and a fifth which was the last remaining, devouring it at such a surprising speed that makes her burst of hysterical laughter.

“What, you didn’t have anything for lunch?” she laughs as his face twists into horror at how much he’s consumed.

“I did but – oh my god, I finished all of them, I’m sorry, Ronnie”, he mumbles.

“It doesn’t matter”, she says, and finishes the sandwich in her hand before he could’ve any ideas that she doesn’t want it.

He takes out the fresh orange juice and pours them into the two plastic cups she brought. Handing a full cup to her, he clinks it mockingly to hers, both of them then chuckling for no apparent reason. He finishes his drink before her, and sets the cup down, looking at her expectedly like he wanted her to say something.

The sun was touching the tree tops now, and the purple shade starts to appear in the sky, but she wasn’t in a hurry to finish her drink. She doesn’t know yet whether she’s ready, and to be honest, she kind of brushed it aside in her mind the whole time, not wanting to think about it until the moment. Maybe that was a mistake, she thought now. She should’ve really gone over it, what she’s about to say to him. What if she gets some words wrong in some way that makes him run away, having misinterpreted her? What if she doesn’t explain properly and that would result in his heartbreak again, because he didn’t understand? After the shit that had happened that night, it left her looking for the worst possibility of the outcomes of every event happening to her life, or more accurately, the events including one Archie Andrews. She had let go of the control once, and bam, the punishment comes in the form of Sammy spilling beans.

Veronica looks at the boy sitting next to her. He was facing the river, his dark brown eyes reflecting the glittering of the streaming clear water, the light wind blowing that single strand of his auburn hair askew, all the lights throwing his jawline into deeper shade, and she swears, she’s never seen a sight       more beautiful in her life.

She sets the cup down, sighing and he turns to face her.

“So”, she starts.

He frowns, “What?”

She laughs at the fact that he seemed momentarily confused, “What I promised you three days ago?”

“Oh, right, yeah”, he says, clearing her throat.

“What is it that you want to me to tell you, Archie?”

“I don’t know. About us? Like why did we ended things that were happening between us? How did we even get together?” he asks her, his eyes a darker shade as he looks at her with a silent plea.

She knows the answer to all of it, or maybe they’re answers to him, but they’re feelings to her. She just needed to tell him everything’s she felt for him, and maybe, maybe hopefully he’ll understand. It’s not the things that happened, because things always happen. It’s what they felt when those things happened that matters, she thought. But she doesn’t know how to put them to words, does she?

“I don’t know how and where to start”, she confesses, running a hand through her hair and she watches his eyes follow the movement.

“From the beginning?” he suggests tentatively.

She chuckles, “That’s going to be a long story. It probably won’t make sense for a while as well.”

“We have all the time we want”, he says.

“Not all of it, Archiekins”, she replies sweetly, and he shrugs, smiling but doesn’t say anything further, waiting for her to start speaking.

“All right. From the beginning then”, she sighs, and continues after a momentary pause, “The beginning was meeting you on a fateful night at Pop’s. Now I don’t want to sound dramatic or anything with the story, but I clearly remembered how I walked in with the hooded cape. I just arrived at Riverdale that night, tired and drained, both physically and emotionally, as my father was just arrested. My mom send me to Pop’s to fetch the burgers, and as soon as I walked into the shop, I felt like someone was staring at me, you know. I lowered my hood and turned towards my left, because that’s where I felt the penetrating stare, and, I saw you. Clear and bright as day, and even though it was pretty much nighttime, your eyes were shining and I felt so much warmth, I was overwhelmed by it. And take note of the word overwhelmed, because I’ll come back to that a lot. We kept eye contact the whole time I was walking towards your table, you were with Betty and she was telling you something. Clearly, you weren’t listening to a word she said because you were practically drooling looking at me.”

“Really?” Archie cuts in, laughing embarrassingly.

She laughs as well, “Of course not, I was just kidding. But I knew you were attracted, I knew I got your attention completely. I introduced myself and you introduced yourself and Betty, and I decided to drop a joke that most, or actually every hot looking guy won’t get. And you laughed clearly because you were attracted, not understanding the joke at all for sure.”

“What was the joke?”

“A Truman Capote reference”, she replies.

Archie laughs, “Well, I can tell I won’t get it, but you’re wrong. Jughead would get it, and he’s a guy.”

“True that is, but I meant more of a jock sort of? Jughead’s an intellectual”, she says to him.

“Are you telling me I’m not intellectual?” he jokes.

She raises a mocking hand, “Please, Archiekins, with all those muscles on your body, I think more brain muscles are quite unnecessary.”

He laughs but looks down to hide his red face, his hands going to his neck.

She continues, satisfied at her hit, “Anyways, the next day at school, you were my target. You captured my attention, because you were so intriguing, and as I quoted to Betty when I saw you from afar, ‘I’ve tasted every flavor of boy except orange’.”

Archie lets out a loud laugh this time, throwing back his head and his face turning impossibly redder. She waits until his laughter subsides.

“Then Kevin had come to intervene and mentioned that Betty has a crush on you and you also have a crush on her but you were oblivious to it, just like most boys are. So I made it my sole mission to get you with Betty after finding out about that.”

“What? Why? Weren’t you, like, interested in me?” he frowns.

“I was, Archie. But I was also on a path of redemption, trying to get rid of my old New York ways and Betty was such a nice new friend I didn’t want to lose her.”

“Old New York ways?”

She sighs, “I was the vapid toxic rich bitch back in my school in New York. A typical Ice Queen that the current queen Bee of Riverdale High would pale in comparison. So after the events of my dad’s exposé, I decide to renounce my old ways and turn over a fresh leaf. And where better than Riverdale to do that?”

“I can’t imagine you being bad though”, he mumbles.

She punches his arm playfully, laughing, “Aw, Archiekins, you’d have no idea. But anyways, I was trying to be Betty’s new girl duo or if that’s what you’d call.”

“But your plan doesn’t work as I rejected her?”

“You guessed right, Lover Boy, but the chaos that night wasn’t over, it seems. I was also at fault.”

“What happened?”

“Cheryl happened. I am going to eat my words when I said she paled in comparison when compared to the past me, but then again, I was trying to be good that night. Lowering the guards down wasn’t ideal, and my last encounter of the night was also you.”

“What do you mean?”

She tells him, “Well, she invited all of us to the after party, after you told Betty that you didn’t feel what you were supposed to feel for her, I quote. So at the Chez Blossom, Cheryl set up a game called ‘Seven Minutes in Heaven’. A stupid game where a girl is chose randomly to spend seven minutes with a pre-selected guy in a dark, small closet.”

“I was the selected guy and you got picked?” he says when she pauses for a while.

She claps a hand on his shoulder in mock approval, which makes him chuckle, “Right you are again, Archiekins. So, yeah, me and you in a dark small closet, standing way too close to each other, talking about stuff we shouldn’t.”

“Did we do something?”

“Yes, although something might be an understatement considering how much I guiltily enjoyed it. We kissed and it got carried away a little bit until the troglodytes outside knocked on the closet door to tell time was up, taking me out of the temporary Eden I was experiencing”, she says, hoping she’s not blushing too much as he is right now.

“Wow”, he mumbles after a while, “What did we talk about? Like before we kissed?”

“I tried to get more of what happened between you and Betty but you were awfully close and under those lights and everything? I failed spectacularly. We both forgot about the stuff that’s happening for a while inside that closet.”

Archie snorts, his cheeks still red as he says, “What did you get from me about Betty?”

“That you’ve never felt what you’re supposed to feel with Betty ever, that you’ve considered her a best friend forever.”

“I hurt her then.”

“She got over it, Archie, please don’t blame yourself.”

“Yeah, well. So what happened after that?” he sighs.

“I pretty much destroyed the new friendship with Betty when I went into that closet with you, although I tried my best to redeem, and Betty was so good enough to give me a second chance. And after all of it, I decided to keep myself away from you for a while, because 1) I didn’t want to risk anything when Betty was still getting over you, and 2) you were boyfriend material, and I didn’t need that just yet. So I went on a date with Chuck Clayton to distract my feelings, although that pretty much was a turn of events like the end of every horror movie.”

“What happened?”

“Chuck Clayton slut-shamed me with a post on his Instagram”, she says, but continues quickly before he could interrupt to show his disgust and contempt, “Don’t worry, I took care of it, you could say, the Lodge way.”

“Did you kill him?” he asks, grinning with his eyes widened mockingly with horror.

She laughs despite the dig he shot at her father, “Not funny, Archiekins. And no, I didn’t kill him. I found that he and his jocks targeted a lot of girls in this school, spreading lies and slut-shaming them, so I decided to look into it further. Betty, Cheryl and me found out the book he’s kept that has the list of girls who had been slut-shamed and we submit it as an evidence to Principle Weatherbee.”

He nods impressively, but does not say anything, making her continue, “Safe to say, after the fiasco of dating football jocks, it kept me staying low on the ground for a while. Then Betty got into a relationship with Jughead, leaving you innocently free for me to grasp, but I didn’t yet.”

“Oh yeah, Grundy, right?”

She’s taken back, “You know?”

“Yeah, my parents told me about it”, he says, hands rubbing the back of his neck dejectedly.

She places a hand on his lap, rubbing it soothingly, “I’m sorry, Archie.”

“Nah, it’s okay”, Archie waves a hand, then goes on, “My dad told me it was you and Betty who found out about Grundy?”

“Jughead was the first one who did, but he did not try to press you further after only confronting you once because he was scared, but Betty did not give up. She recruited me and we found out about her fake identity and everything, and told you about it. To no avail it was, you still were stuck to the evil women.”

He finishes for her, “Until Betty’s mom found out about it too.”

“Yeah”, she nods.

“And what was it between us after Geraldine left?”

“We were still friends, Archie, or ‘friends that flirt’ according to Kevin”, she says, her voice quivering with laughter.

He throws his head back to laugh, his shoulder shaking, “So did you get me?”

“Well, no. You were working on your music with Valerie for a long time as well, so you guys ended up together.”

“Valerie? One of the Pussycats?”

She nods, “Yup, but it didn’t last long.”

“What happened?”

“No idea, you never told me. I just know that things didn’t end well? Valerie was pissed from you. She threw her drink at you the night of Jughead’s birthday party at your empty house.”

“Wow, really?” he says, chuckling incredulously.

She grins at his expression, “That night wasn’t over yet, you know?”

He frowns at her, the corners of his lips tugging up, “What else?”

“Let’s just say it was Cheryl who ruined the night again, her stupid party game causing a fight between Chuck and Jughead, and the party was over. But not before Dilton and Chuck revealed to everyone present of your past affair with Grundy.”

“Welp, that sucks.”

She laughs, “Yeah, it did. But so was my night anyways, since there were stuff going on with my dad as well. We ended up alone after everyone’s left, you sprawled out on the couch next to me like you were defeated. It was a sore sight, watching you complain about how the reveal of the affair could affect you. We comforted each other, or actually more accurately, I comforted you.”

“Was I that depressed?”

“Nah, you called your dad when you were drunk as well. Apparently, Fred was in Chicago finalizing the divorce papers with your mom, and you told him not to through the drunk call. You blamed yourself afterwards for keeping on wrecking things, and boy, it was what I felt at the certain moment as well. Then you hit me with a Matrix type question, asking me if things would have been different if you moved to Chicago with your mom”, she says, smiling at him.

He grins, “What did you say?”

“That it would’ve been a tragedy of epic proportions if we haven’t met”, she says, her eyebrows raised with anticipation at his reaction.

Archie laughs with her, and grins at her giddily after the laughter subsides from both of them.

“And?” he asks her, his eyes teasing.

She shrugs, “We made out, and I ended up waking up in your bed the next morning, fully clothed. And you were sleeping on the floor, shirtless”

As she said it, the memory of the said morning comes back to her, the way she turned once on the bed before her nose picks up the scent of cologne that belongs to someone well, startling her into getting up. The sunlight that streamed into the room illuminated the boy that slept soundly on the floor in front of her, and she remembers how her mouth had stretched into a smile without a second thought at the sight, how she bit her bottom lip when the sensation of his lips against hers return suddenly, soft and exciting. She remembers how she quietly got out of the bed, placing a light kiss on his cheek before leaving and walking into Jughead.

“We didn’t do anything else?” he asks her, looking jokingly disappointed, pulling her out of her reverie.

She throws the empty cup at him, blushing, “Archie! No, we didn’t. It was all a blur that night.”

“And did we get together soon after that?”

She shakes her head, “No, not soon after that. A little while, maybe 5 days after we made out?”

“Nice”, he says.

She frowns at him, but her mouth was tugged up in a smile, “Of course it’s nice. It was nice.”

He remains silent and she notices how his face falls, his eyes wistfully looking at the river in front of them. She doesn’t know what cause the sudden change of demeanor is, but she may have an inkling idea why.

He says suddenly, “How was it, like, between us?”

“It was great, Archie, you were the best boyfriend ever, but after your dad got shot, things were hard.”

“How hard?”

“The trauma after the Black Hood and everything with my dad coming back to Riverdale soon after we got together, it made everything incredibly crazy. But we tried, we tried our best to right every wrong, fix every mistake, and make up for the fights. You were an incredible, Archie. You were supportive, loyal and lovely, always trying your best to make me smile.”

“Then what happened? Did I do something to end us?”

She sighs and looks away, observing the silent stream of water illuminated by the darkening sky. She feels mosquitos bites all over her arms, but it’s nothing compared to the heavy feeling in her heart, like some sort of guilt or desperation.

“Archie, you could never do anything to hurt me, you have to get that”, she says to him, begging him to understand.

“Then what happened, Veronica?”

She remains silent again, the pain in her chest growing, but goes on before she could let him down again, “I broke us, Archie.”

She silently waits for the dying dusk to explode with something, she doesn’t know, but she braces for something nevertheless. Archie is either going to shout at her face, or stood up and ran away. He doesn’t do any of that, doesn’t give a reaction, his face remaining blank.

“Why?” he asks after an uncomfortable silent.

She doesn’t answer right away, but ponders on her words before she says, “Remember when I said to pay attention to the ‘overwhelmed’?”

He nods and she goes on, “The things I were feeling, Archie, it was a lot. You radiated so much goodness sometimes it makes me wonder I’m ever good enough for you. And the feelings were something I never felt before, it was so overwhelming sometimes. So I tried to push it all away by having all the nonstop sex with you, but it all just adds to it, you know?”

“We had nonstop sex?” he repeats, his eyebrows raised high and his eyes widened with embarrassment and disbelief

She laughs at his flushed face, “Yes, we did. After the Black Hood announced his death sentence over this town for sinning, we defied him by sinning more.”

“Wow. So was it because that I was so bad in bed that you broke up with me?” he jokes guiltily.

She giggles, shoving his shoulder playfully, “No way, you were _incredible_ in bed, Archiekins”, making him blush further and he looks down at his fidgeting hands. She continues now that at least she’s talking in a lighter mood, “It’s just that, well, one night after we had a steamy session in front of the fireplace, you told me that you loved me.”

He jerks up to look at her with wide, dark, brown eyes, his fidgeting hands frozen, but he doesn’t say anything, just stares at her.

She goes on, “Well, I can’t deny that it wasn’t a surprise. Just as I was having fun denying my feelings for you because I wasn’t so sure yet, you dropped the bomb that you’re in love with me. I guess it was so easy for you, since you know what love is, always the protective and loving boy. I didn’t know what it was, Archie, that’s why I couldn’t say it back to you that night.”

He blinks rapidly at her, and maybe he was crying, she doesn’t know, or doesn’t bother because she could feel her eyes prickling around the corners. She looks away again, pulling her legs closer to her body and wraps her arms around it as the world around them darkens and gets colder. The orange streaks are gone from the sky now.

“I broke up with you two days later, at the White Wyrm where we were supposed to sing for FP’s return to the Serpents. Guiltiness, shame, and disgust is what I felt. I felt guilty because I didn’t want to accept my feelings for you, not knowing where it could lead. I felt ashamed because I couldn’t give you back what you gave, I couldn’t reciprocate. I felt disgust at how I thought I’d be okay with it, how I thought that we could still be in a relationship without exchanging the three words ever.”

“The problem was that I was never okay with it. It was the most regretting life decision I’ve ever met, if you don’t count snorting coke when you’re drunk”, she says, laughing at the small joke with him, “But, it all went to shit. Without you, everything was incomplete, that force of goodness and light in my life diminished. I tried so, so hard, Archie, to move past all of it, but I couldn’t. And the month after we broke up, you got into a relationship with Sammy, and I thought you moved on. Me? I was still stuck at the place I left you at. So I found some other ways to distract myself. I didn’t want to resort to drinking or drugs, but I kept myself busy. Dug into some of my father’s suspicious activities with the Southside, and helped Jughead exposed him. It did work, but once all of it was over, I was back where I was. In that dark, depressing shell of my solitude. Venice didn’t even help a bit.”

‘Why did you even go there when you felt alone? I mean, Betty and Jughead were still your friends, right?” he asks her.

“They were, Arch, and maybe that was the solution all along. To be with people that I care for. But my emotions blinded me, I thought, you know, third wheeling while hanging out Jughead and Betty would just make reminiscent about you even more, so I chose to run away. But I’m lying when I’m saying Venice didn’t help. It didn’t help me get over you, though, I don’t think anything would. But it helped me understand what I was feeling, and accept what I was feeling, the time I spent meditating in the early sunrise and late sunsets of the city.”

“What was it that you felt?”

She blows out a long breath, trying to choose her words carefully for the next few sentences she’s going to say, but she’s way past that now. It was never easy opening up for her, but now that it was, she wasn’t going to waste time explicitly choosing the right words from her wide range of vocabulary. Sometimes she should just speak from her heart, and so she does as she continues, “Heartbreak, Archie. That is what I felt and understood. I also understood that heartbreak only comes when you’ve fallen in love as well. Having fallen in love with is what I accepted.”

The wind ruffles his red hair, but he doesn’t say anything as he kept on looking at her, his eyes showing undivided attention.

She goes on in his silence, “The realization was so painful, heart-wrenching that I couldn’t bear it anymore, you know? I had let go of something so precious and rare. And I had to come back here, booked an early flight because I couldn’t stand it anymore, and maybe I thought seeing you one more time could save me from the oblivion I was falling into.”

Her voice was quivering now, and she feels tears on her cheeks, the cold wind stinging the hot trails on her skin, “I’m sorry, Archie. I was scared. So, so scared of falling in love with you, never realizing I already did. It was new to me, everything was so overwhelming, I couldn’t breathe. It was too good, everything with you, and it just made me think whether all of it was a drug, you know? Way too good to be real. But I never knew it was something pure and holy. Something humane and nature. I was so incompetent at it all, Archie.”

She doesn’t know what she’s doing really, apologizing to a complete different person she’s supposed to. Not much a difference, their habits were still the same, but this Archie has never known heartbreak. He wasn’t the Archie to witness her goodbye, he wasn’t the Archie who was with her in highest of highs and lowest of lows, he wasn’t the Archie who held her when she’s crying, and he wasn’t the Archie whom she comforted when he’s suffering, he wasn’t the Archie she made love to. He isn’t the Archie who said that he loves her.

“Are you still in love with me?” he asks.

She shrugs, wiping her eyes “Honestly, I don’t know, Archie. I want to say that I am, but I feel like I don’t deserve to say anything.”

He asks, frowning, “Why not?”

“I broke your heart, Archie. I threw you away. Do you think I still deserve you?” she asks him then, laughing watery despite how fucked up it seems.

“But it was a mistake, wasn’t it?”

“It was”, she nods. She looks up at him to see frustration etched on his face.

“Mistakes happens all the time, Veronica. And I don’t think yours was a mistake, either. You were right to push me away. You felt insecure about your feelings, you weren’t sure about us and that’s not wrong. It’s not wrong to think about yourself first in a relationship. It’s not wrong to make your feelings the first priority, we’re not forced to be in a relationship. We choose to. And just as much, we can choose to leave if we want. And after all this, if you think I’m going to blame you for a single thing, Veronica, you’re wrong. You just needed time, and I should’ve given it to you before you had to ask. Heartbreak? I don’t think you broke my heart. I think I broke my own heart, for not chasing you, for giving you up so easily. And I don’t know, really, whether I have a say for the old Archie, but I don’t think he was ever angry at you, let alone he never blamed you, Veronica. I think we might be both at faults when we broke up.”

“Archie, I –”

“I’ll say this, Veronica. I forgive you, if you still think you did something wrong. There’s no way, not in a million years, that every version of me in every damn universe would not forgive you, or would not love you back.”

She remains silent as he goes on, unsure of what she’s hearing, whether this was real or a hallucination, but that doesn’t fucking matter. She clings on to every word she’s hearing.

“Maybe you’re right, you know, about me being a lover. I just met you like two weeks ago, and I’m so attracted towards you. I don’t know, maybe I’m not in love with you mentally yet, but my body, my hands, feels like it’s always longing for more of your touch, it leaves me hanging in an oblivion as well, so weak and desperate for something that belongs to it. And when I kissed you that, everything fell into place”, he says to her, his voice begging her to understand.

Her heart spasms painfully, and she lets her tears fall as she listens to him. She doesn’t know what the fuck she’s supposed to do now that he’s forgiven her. Never did she think he would a million years ago, but here she is, sitting next the boy who lifted away an unknown guilt on her heart with his words.

“Archie, I’m so sorry.”

“I’m sorry too, Ronnie”, he says.

She starts, “You don’t have to be sorry for –”

 “No, I am. Guess we’re all sorry for each other”, he says, chuckling.

“Yeah, guess we are. But all is forgiven?”

He laughs, “You haven’t said you forgive me yet.”

It was right there and then that she pulls his face close, evaporating the unnecessary space between them, and kisses him like his lips belongs to her. His hands cups her face, his fingers playing with the strands of her hair as he kisses her back, passionately and softly. It wasn’t like the kiss they shared at Pickens Day, this one was something more of an ‘I miss you’ kiss, but she could say that it’s the same as well. But it was also different, now that she feels so light on the inside, no more secrets kept, no more stories to be told, no more explanation needed to be made. She’s never been kissed like this, she knows, but the familiarity was there as well. The warmth, the moisture, and how her heart feels so buoyant, she could fly to outer space from how high the sensation was.

They break apart, and she leans her forehead on his, whispering as she looks into his bright eyes, “I’d always forgive you, Archie.”

He doesn’t say a word, but pulls her back into another kiss, into another earth-shattering, mind-blowingly good sensation all the same, as it sets her blood on fire, like the smoldering, darkening world around them.

And honestly, it’s never been so bright for her.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well there goes them talking, Veronica thinks she finally fixed it (but did she?) and Archie still has to get his memories back.  
> If you’re wondering when an Archie POV will ever come, I have it in the plans. Gyanu has been kind enough to tell me twice to try writing an amnesia Archie, but I don’t think I’m capable of that. I never had amnesia (as if I’d remember if I did) and haven’t done enough research on it I’m afraid I might do injustice on it :( 
> 
> Song in the beginning was Every Breath You Take by The Police. And if you’re wondering whether you’re at the right fic, you are, I just changed the summary cuz I feel like I suck at them in general.  
> and thank you for all your comments and support as always  
> Find me on tumblr @theravenhairedprince and see you soon!


	8. Chapter 8

_At another place in time_

_You were infinitely mine_

 

“What about your dad?” Archie asks over the whistling wind as he looks over at her, “What actually happened this time?”

They were driving back as the sun had already set, and it’s almost dark, the smoldering streaks of red disappearing from the dying sky as they sped across Sweetwater road, the blurring maple trees on one side and dark reflective waters on the other.

“Well, some of his partners from New York came to him with a deal that asked for 25% of the SoDale project my dad’s doing, but he couldn’t give it to them, so they threatened him”, Veronica answers him, her eyes on the road lit by the headlights, and her fingers tapping the steering wheel along to the quiet song playing on the radio disturbed by the cold wind slamming against the windshield.

She goes on, “So my dad came up with plan that would get rid of them, by encouraging his partner, who has a reputation for drug trafficking, to use the Serpents for a one time rare drug exchange instead of the SoDale. Little did they know that it was a set up to expose both of them, since my dad also has a grudge against the Serpents as well.”

“But you found out, again?”

She nods, “Unintentionally. Woke up suddenly to overhear FP and my dad talking in the foyer the night I came back from the hospital. I decided to ignore it until I just couldn’t.”

“So that’s when you ran away from me that morning, when you saw the Serpents riding to your house’s direction, thinking it had to do something with whatever your dad was planning”, he recalls, his eyes growing with realization.

“Yeah, I’m sorry for that”, she mumbles.

Archie chuckles, “You really have to stop apologizing to me. I’m not the one with a mobster dad and a broken amnesia boyfriend to deal with.”

She frowns, laughing, “You’re not broken.”

“You could say that, now that you’re mine again.”

“Archie!” she blushes, but continues the story, “Anyways, with Jughead’s help, we figured out whatever the hell was going to happen, and eventually, the involvement of every Serpent members, we blew my dad out.”

“What about the partners?”

“Kowalski’s going to stay away from Riverdale for a while, we’ve scared him into thinking the police was involved with Hiram in the whole plan”, she says.

“Wow”, he mutters

She adds, “Was my idea.”

“Of course, you’re a genius.”

“Thanks”, she snorts.

“So like everything is over now or what?”

She remains silent, pondering her answer and thinking of the best possible way to frame it without worrying him, “Honestly, Arch, I think it’s over, even if it’s just for a while.”

“What do you mean?”

She grimaces, “Kowalski is a crazy mobster with humungous reputation and an overinflated ego, he’s not going to let this go easily. And my dad, has to think of a contingency plan because if Kowalski wants something done, he can do it.”

“That sounds bad.”

“Yeah, but I hope the Lodge’s Industries will still have my father’s back, because he’s going to need a lot of money if he’s ever going to a fight with the Lemon”, she says.

“Lemon?” Archie frowns, a ludicrous smile on his face

“Kowalski’s mobster name”, she explains, forcing down the laughter in her voice from the expression on his face.

He bursts out laughing, “Does your father has a mobster name too?”

“I don’t know, I swear”, she chuckles, turning onto Elm Street.

They remain silent for the rest of the drive. She pulls up in front of his house, the tires slightly squeaking from the brake.

“I’ll be with you”, he pipes up suddenly.

“What?”

“You know, in case if anything happens again, this time I’ll be with you”, he says.

She couldn’t stop her mouth from widening in a big grin, feeling the warm gratitude settling in her chest, “Thanks, Archiekins. You’re already so adorable.”

He pretends to shrug, “Well, what can I say? Natural charisma.”

She giggles but stops instantly as he leans in to capture her lips with his, sighing heavily into his mouth as he heeds her for permission with his tongue. They sit there in the silence punctured by their hot breaths and the sloppy sounds until a car passes by causing them to break apart, their faces heavily flushed.

“I meant that to be a goodnight kiss only, I got carried away, sorry”, he deadpans, leaning his head back.

She chuckles, swiping the strands of her hair out of her face that has gone stray during the make out, “Do you hear me complaining?”

He turns to look at her with his crinkling eyes, the corners of his mouth upturned into such a boyish grin that would’ve normally result in her dragging him up to his bedroom sneakily, while Fred tried to ignore them pointedly in the kitchen. But she wasn’t sure she wanted to do it _now_ , considering all the feelings that have poured from her chest earlier, taking so much of her strength and will to do it.

“How about I take you on a date tomorrow night?” Archie asks her after a while.

“Where to?”

“I don’t know, some fancy restaurant”, he replies, “That doesn’t sound so gentleman-ly, but my knowledge is still limited. You know any good ones?”

“There’s that restaurant at Lake Town, quite nice, we went there once”, she says.

Archie nods, “Lake Town? Sound nice.”

“Yeah, I’ll come pick up you then. Text me the time.”

He grins sheepishly, “I know I should be the one driving –”

“It doesn’t matter, Archie”, she waves him off laughing, “You can’t drive anyways, and I don’t think your dad would allow you to, after all that.”

He grimaces, nodding, “Well, yeah.”

She leans in this time, kissing him softly on his lips. His eyes were crinkling as they pulled away, and with a smirk, he opens the door and gets out, heading back into his house with a wave and a typical Archie Andrews wink that gets her heart fluttering the whole ride home.

 

***

 

“To Veronica!”

Everyone in the dingy bar echoes, raising their glasses in a toast lead by FP, the clinking sound reverberating through the room as she smiles gratefully at all the happy Serpents gathered around her, who then all went back to their respective places after shaking her hand and sending some private thanks.

“Saved our asses a second time, Lodge”, Toni claps a hand on her shoulder after the commotion’s died down, “A shame you don’t like girls, I might’ve wooed you as well.”

She giggles, “I’d be a no-competition when Cheryl’s around, T.”

“She is a competition-no when Archie’s around”, Jughead appears out of nowhere, a martini in his hands amidst the burst of laughter coming Toni.

Veronica blushes, “Shut up!”

“No can do, went to see him this morning. Apparently he won’t shut up talking about you, but that’s usually normal. It was the glazed expression and the drooling that gave it away”, he says, his eyebrows raised.

Toni chuckles, a devilish grin on her face, “So back together, huh?”

“Honestly, I don’t know. But I’m good. I feel like my part is done, so you could say that”, she shrugs.

“Gone to bed with him yet?” Toni inquires innocently.

Jughead chokes on his drink, “Wow, Toni, couldn’t you be more blunt?”

She shrugs in reply, making Veronica snort, “What? I know these two are sexually active, it’s only a matter of time.”

“No, Toni, I didn’t yet. Besides, he has amnesia, I don’t think he’d have any inkling idea of what he’s supposed to do when I get naked in front of him”, she says, laughing

Jughead looks at her with growing blue eyes, “Oh, if he doesn’t have any recollection and does it with you, does it mean it’s his first time?”

“Holy shit, Jug, your right! Archie Andrews is officially a virgin! And what better way to take it from him than Veronica Lodge TM”, Toni teases her.

“Oh my god, you guys”, Veronica chuckles.

Jughead looks at his watch and says, “Anyways, I’m seeing him at Pop’s for breakfast.”

“But you just had breakfast”, Toni says, her eyes widening with surprise.

“C’mon, Toni, I thought you’d know me by now. I have like –”

“Three breakfasts, two lunches and two dinners”, Veronica finishes for him, setting her glass down, “Anyways I have to go to Pop’s as well, said I’d meet Betty there. Say hi to Cher for me, T”

Toni nods, raising her glass solemnly, “Will do. Adios people.”

She smiles at her and follows Jughead out of the bar, receiving an applause and multiple thank-yous on her way to the door again. She puts on her shades as the glaring sunlight hits her when she gets out.

“Hey, I’ll give you a ride, c’mon”, she says to Jughead as he walks towards his bike.

He frowns, “Really?”

“Yes, why not?” she tells him, dragging him by the arm to the parked Firebird, “You’ve always given me a ride. Besides we can also pick them up together, there’s space for two at the back.”

“Good point”, he says as he gets into the passenger seat, “So, any ideas why your beloved father would give you this car?”

“Birthday present, according to him”, she says as she starts the engine, the car rumbling like some awoken creature in its slumber, “But honestly? No clue.”

“How is he doing anyways?” he asks, turning on the AC to full blast.

She shrugs as rounds into the main street that would lead them back to the Northside of the town, “Brooding in silence. Doesn’t talk much, spends most of his time in the office. Probably scheming of something new, or writing an apology to Kowalski.”

“Okay, that’s that?”

“Yeah, what do you expect? He’s a Lodge, and Lodges keeps their emotions and feelings mostly to themselves”, she says.

“True”, he nods, but continues after a while, “So Archie and you. How?”

“Remember Pickens Day?”

“Oh yeah, I saw you sneaked off with him after the performance”, he laughs, “What happened?”

“We kissed”, she admits, “But then Sammy appeared, and like every revengeful ex, she spilled the bean.”

“Sammy? Holy shit. So like Archie found out right there? That you used to be his girlfriend?”

She makes a non-committal jerk of her head, “Well, yes and no. He kind of suspected it from the beginning you know, how weird it always seemed to be between me and him, the tension and everything. And his mother let it slip once. And my dad as well. Sammy was the final one until he put two and two together and bam, he asked me.”

“That sucks, what did you tell him?”

“Told him to give me some time, and he did”, she recalls.

“And yesterday?”

“Took him out for a picnic and told him everything.”

“Everything?”

“From the beginning”, she says, but continues, “That just rhymed. But yeah, I told him everything from my point of view, it’s like admitting my feelings for him for the first time, you know, verbally.”

“Was it hard?”

“Fucking hard”, she nods fervently.

He laughs, “And he forgave you. What a man.”

“Totally”, she agrees as she rounds into Elm Street, “We’re here, text them.”

He complies by taking out his phone as she pulls to a stop at a spot directly in between the Andrew’s and the Cooper’s house. A minute later, Archie and Betty comes out at the same time and walks towards the car with frowned faces, until they spot each other and stopped in their tracks.

“Oh, hey, Arch”, Betty says.

Archie looks surprised, “Betty”, and turns towards where Veronica was parked with Jughead, “Ronnie?”

Jughead clears his throat, “Yeah, Arch, I found out Veronica was inviting Betty over to Pop’s as well, so I thought we’d all go together, if it’s cool.”

“Yeah, cool”, he says, his eyes not leaving Veronica’s, and a smile tugs up the corner of his lips.

Betty laughs as she gets in the back seat with Archie, “Just like the old days, double dates.”

“Betty, you know?” Veronica turns around to ask her, astounded.

She giggles in reply, “Yeah, Arch told me last night, after he was asking me what he should wear tonight for your date.”

“Sorry”, Archie mumbles embarrassingly as Jughead laughs. Veronica shakes her head, chuckling as she pulls out of park and drives to Pop’s.

“What were you doing with Jughead anyways?” he asks after a while, and she couldn’t help but laugh at the twinge of jealousy masked by the fake curiosity in his voice.

Jughead turns around with a smirk on his face, clearly spotting the jealousy in Archie’s voice as well, “Oh, Serpent celebration in her honor, she helped us so we toasted to her. Why do you sound jealous?”

“What? No, I’m not”, Archie scoffs, making Betty laugh but Veronica sees his flushed face from the rear view mirror.

She coos, “Aw, Archiekins, if you think Jug can lure me away from you, you’re kindly mistaken. What do you think your dashing looks are for?”

“Hey, are you calling me ugly?” Jughead asks with contempt, causing Archie to chuckle.

Betty intervenes with mirth in her voice, “No, Jug, you’re not ugly. But according to Veronica comparing you to Archie, well yes.”

He snorts in reply and Archie pipes in, “If Jug wanted to woo Veronica, he’d deploy his knowledge of classic movies and literature, right?”

“That would a terrific but a terrifying move at the same time, considering how much we disagree on the particular topic”, Jughead deadpans.

Veronica nods in agreement as she turns into Pop’s parking lot, “Totally. We haven’t settle the score on modern filmography yet.”

 “Yeah, have you been researching on Debate.org now that you can come at me with your copied-off-the-internet points?” he mocks.

“Oh, here we go again”, Betty mumbles.

“Pur- _lease_ ”, she scoffs as she cuts the engine, “I have my points since day one, and you are so going to lose with only Tarantino on your side.”

“Pardon me, Lodge, but if you think those days were made of only Tarantino, you’re so wrong. And on telling me today’s movie are much better than yesterday’s as well”, he tells her as he gets out of the passenger seat.

“You already lose, because that was never my point. I just wanted you to embrace the modern times, Jones”, she says ignoring his snort of disbelief as they walk into Pop’s.

“You boys go get a seat”, she continues as they get into the cool shade of the building, before Jughead could interject her with his arrogant defying words of dejecting modern filmography, “I need to talk to Betty.”

She then drags the blonde girl to other side of the restaurant, settling into a booth at the far end.

“So, Archie and you. Tell me everything that happened. Every single detail”, Betty giggles excitedly as they sit down.

Veronica smiles, and starts to tell her everything that had happened last night, from how she recalled the past to how she expressed her regrets and emotions, to how she was forgiven, and to how she kissed him under the dying sky, glittered with the early stars.

“Yeah, it was amazing”, she finishes as Betty wipes a tear from her eyes due to how emotional it was.

Betty nods, “Totally, V. I’m so happy for you”, and she takes her manicured fingers into her vanilla-scented lotioned hands, drawing light small circles on the back of her hand with her finger.

“Let’s go rejoin the boys”, Veronica says after a while, and Betty nods. Both of them gets up and walks towards the boys’ booth, which was already littered with Jughead’s huge appetite; a couple of burgers and four milkshakes.

“So, collected enough points on how you can attack personally and emotionally once you’ve lost the argument?” Jughead teases, a half-finished burger in his hands.

“Careful, Jones, you might choke on that”, she snaps back at him as she slides into the booth next to Archie.

He laughs but doesn’t continue to jab her, and Betty starts on a topic that Archie has found interest in (something about a famous musician coming to Riverdale next week). They all fall into an easy conversation, with Veronica thanking god that Jughead is occupied with the burgers and doesn’t have a preference over the genre of music as well. The sunlight streamed in through the filter screens of the restaurant, illuminating the four teenagers that all laugh at Jughead’s joke about the mentioned artist. Betty with her bright smile and her swinging ponytail as she shakes her head with ridicule, Archie with his wide grin and his eyes crinkling from amusement, and Jughead with a stupid satisfied smirk on his burger-filled mouth.

The world was bright and buoyant, all of it just like how Veronica had wished for better days. And she’s definitely not complaining.

***

Veronica shifts in her seat as she pulls up silently to the Andrew’s house for the second time of the day, just as the clock on the dashboard hits 7 pm. She checks her appearance on the rear view mirror, wiping the minuscule smudge of the ferocious red La Prairie lipstick from the corners of her mouth, and adjusting the strands of her hair before she takes out her phone to text Archie of her arrival. A moment later the front door opens, revealing a dashing Archie in a casual crimson blazer that matches strikingly with his red hair illuminated by the orange street lights, swiped back gracefully. He walks down the steps in his jeans and Converse, and she couldn’t help but laugh in awe at how he can pull off such a casual look.

“Looking handsome, Archiekins”, she coos as he gets into the passenger.

“You look stunning, Ronnie”, he replies as he leans to plant a kiss on her cheek, igniting the spot on her skin as she blushes furiously from his compliment and the contact of his lips.

She’s aware of her appearance of course, and she was satisfied with her choice of dress for tonight, having gained an approval nod from her mother on her way out. Clad in a waist tight but a comfortable classic black Louis Vuitton dress, with a golden back zipper, that just reached the apex of her thighs, she feels like her usual self, but totally felt like she hung the moon with the way Archie looks at her.

“Shall we?” she enquires him with a raised eyebrow. He smirks at her in reply, and she shifts gear to drive, heading off to Lake Town.

“Is that?” Archie says after a while, and she turns to find him frowning at the radio. A silent familiar song was playing through the speakers and she reaches out to turn up the volume.

_I can’t stop this feeling_

_Deep inside of me_

“A classic. Blue Swede, Hooked on a Feeling”, she says as she recognizes the song.

Archie nods, “Oh, that’s the name of the song.”

“You don’t know?”

“I heard it on the Guardians of Galaxy while I was doing a Marvel re-run last week, but I forgot to search for this song”, he explains.

_When you hold me_

_In your arms so tight_

“Right, but it’s a great song anyways”, she says, and she sings along, “ _You let me know, everything’s alright_.”

Archie joins her in the chorus, stretching the _I’m_ at the top of his lungs, “ _I’m hooked on a feeling!”_

_I’m high on believing_

_That you’re in love in me_

She throws a hand into the air, snapping her fingers to the two snare hits before launching into the second verse herself without Archie as he doesn’t know the rest of the lyrics, but he hums to the joyful tune of the song all the same, his feet moving to the rhythm and his head shaking to the synth. She glances at him, but you wouldn’t want to call it a glance from how long it seems to last, or actually, from how everything slows down, metaphorically and literally as she glues in on his boyish face, mouth stretched into a laugh that seemed worth a million dollars reaching his bright crinkling eyes that were priceless, and the wind blowing some strands of his red hair astray. Honestly, she could’ve sped the car at the speed of light and break the limits of actual physics to be able to witness miracles, she still wouldn’t take her eyes off him.

The song ends just as she pulls into the parking lot of the Italian restaurant that was her father’s favorite, quiet and secluded from the vibrant folks of Lake Town and the nosy people of Riverdale with its surrounding being tall maple trees. She turns down the radio so that when she starts the car next time, they won’t be met with a full on blast of some metal song that would result in her throttling the acceleration in surprise. She cuts off the engine and gets out, looping her hand around Archie’s arm as they make their way into the restaurant, escaping the cold stinging night that wasn’t doing any benefits to her exposed skin. The dimly lit restaurant was packed with people at its usual capacity, normally every table would be full as it was the weekend, but she called ahead to reserve a table for two.

“I reserved a table? Veronica Lodge?” she says to the waiter that had come in her way, and nods as he checks the list in his hands.

“For two, is that right, Mrs. Lodge?” the waiter asks politely.

She smiles in reply and follows the waiting as he leads her to a table at the far end, a more quiet area as she insisted over the phone. Smoothing her dress before settling down on her seat, she watches as Archie looks around the place in awe.

“This place is amazing”, he says as he sits down, tucking himself in while his eyes are still looking around.

She nods in agreement and can’t help but break into a smile at his expression, “I knew you’d like it.”

“I thought it was me asking you on a date”, he frowns jokingly.

She laughs, taking the menu the waiter, Leo was his name as she learns from the tag, gives her, “It’s still yours, Archiekins.”

He chuckles as he opens the menu, and she can’t help but notice how his eyes widen slightly, probably at the prices of the courses offered. This was place was expensive she knows, and of course, being Veronica she’d never let Archie pay, but she also knows that Archie wouldn’t let her pay this time because it was all in his mentality of being the perfect gentleman. So she already has her credit card paying for every time she’d dine here with Archie, but of course he doesn’t remember considering he never came here after the amnesia (or even after the break up).

“I’ll have a Carborana, please. Medium. And a coke too”, Archie orders after a while. She notices it was one of the cheapest dishes on the menu, according to her status of course. Even though she’s pretty much already paying, she tries to level him as she orders a gnocchi di ricotta and a Caesar salad.

“You can order anything you want, Ronnie”, Archie mumbles embarrassingly, and she knows he’s noticed her downgrade, but honestly she doesn’t care whether Archie’s got enough money, because he himself was already for everything she ever needs.

“I know, babe”, she says, smiling brightly at him and he blushes furiously, avoiding eye contact as the waiter tries to keep a straight face.

“Will that be all, ma’am?” he asks and she nods, and the waiter leaves them in silence. She feels the table cloth moving from the movement of Archie’s shaking left leg, from the nervousness at something she doesn’t know, so she slides a hand under the table and rests it on his lap, moving it in soothing motions.

It results in an effect that she doesn’t quite expected as he snaps his head to her, smirking his signature smile, one corner of his lips more upturned than the other and his eyes flaring up, reflecting the candle light in front of them on the table sends goosebumps up her arm and her blood boiling. She smiles back at him, her chest fluttering with the content warmth, and she moves her hand a little further up his thighs, careful to press with the right exact pressure that elicits a breathy sigh from him as he looks into her eyes. She holds the blazing eye contact, which was broken awkwardly by the arriving drinks. Clearing her throat as her hand moves quickly away from his laps, she sips the water the waiter pours for her, her throat unnaturally parched. Archie bursts into laughter as the waiter moves away, and she can’t help but join him, feeling her cheeks warming up as she covers her mouth. Their courses come after a while, the dishes steaming hot as they were set in front of them, and her stomach growls from the enticing smell.

The rest of the meal passed with Archie talking about how he finally learned how to play an Ed Sheeran song on his guitar, and just like every girlfriend, she’s happy for him. She congratulates on a mouth full of cold salad, and he laughs at how muffled and genuine it sounded, because it definitely was.

The waiter comes again after they’re done with their dishes, this time with a bottle of Amarone poured into tall glasses that was a free courtesy of the restaurant, which were then clinked by both of them with Veronica launching into the conversation this time, about her dreams of being a lawyer with Archie listening intently and attentively, muttering in awe that he doesn’t have anything planned out yet. She tells him that he doesn’t need to hurry about any of it, as they had so much time, and she’d be with him to help out with anything he needs to figure out.

Maybe it was the wine, or it was his presence, but she was definitely getting tipsier with every more sip of her third glass, which she decided will be the last, because she doesn’t want to get full on drunk as she knows what could be possibly going down while she observes Archie’s bright eyes.

“Bill, please”, he calls to the waiter as Veronica sets down her glass with a finality vibe that he gets. He had already stopped at his second glass, but his cheeks were rosy.

“But, sir, it’s already paid for”, the waiter tells him, smiling with confusion.

Archie frowns, looking taken back, “What? I didn’t –”

He then turns to Veronica, who was already silently adjusting her bag, trying to keep an innocent bewildered face.

“Ronnie!” he exclaims, “C’mon, I was supposed to pay!”

“I don’t know what you mean, Archiekins”, she says nonchalantly as she slips the waiter her tip and gets up from the table, her hands going back to adjust her dress.

“C’mon, babe”, Archie huffs desperately, following her outside the restaurant and grabs her just outside, turning her to face him before she could open the car door, his arms effectively trapping her as he wraps it around her waist.

“Archie!” she giggles, trying to break free, but to no avail.

“I should be the one paying next time, okay?” he says, his face inches away from her’s, and she can smell the sweet wine from his breath.

“Okay, babe”, she giggles, biting her lower lip as she continues, “How about you repay me tonight?

She was definitely drunk, even if for a little bit, but the wave that overtook wasn’t the alcohol she consumed. In fact, it was due to the close proximity of Archie Andrews that sends her skin on fire and desperate plea of contact, and the liquid that was flowing in her bloodstream just made her more daring. Archie doesn’t blush this time, and she knows it’s probably the alcohol as well that’s made him more daring as he ducks down and cups her face in his hands, kissing her full on the mouth.

She pushes her tongue passes his lips, searching inside his mouth feverishly and hungrily, like some angel of lust overtook her body with the need and desire for carnal pleasure. His hands travels into the hair at the nape of her neck, the movement tucking and pulling some the strands that causes her knees to tremble, and she guesses he feels it to, as one hand travels down to support her on her waist while he deepens the kiss.

“We’ll continue this somewhere, babe”, she says in between searing kisses, and he pulls apart with a groan, the sensation like as if she’s been deprived of her oxygen, her lips dying without the foreign moisture and warmth. She bites down and her bottom lip as she wipes some of her lipstick that had smudged his lips, and he chuckles, letting go of her as he ran to the passenger seat, and she doesn’t waste another second getting into the car. Everything was a blur after that, reversing the car out of the parking lot, driving back to Riverdale, and parking into the Pembrooke’s garage. She hooked her hands in his as she enters the house from the garage door, sneaking up the stairs after she picked the lock on the door because she doesn’t want to bother with the elevator’s loud noises.

She drags him across the foyer, the living room and into her bedroom, all while tip toeing across the eerie silence of the house. She closes the bedroom door and locks it with a click before pushing him against and searches his mouth hungrily again, while her hands travel up his muscular chest.

His hands go down to her waist and he starts to guide her to god knows where, but she doesn’t honestly care because she was busy getting rid of his clothes all while kissing him. She pushes off the blazer, the action making him draw back his arms to remove it which causes her skin to scream without his hands on it, but it soon returned to where it belongs, and this time he unzips the back of her dress. She unbuttons his shirt with fumbling fingers as her buttery knees hits the edge of the bed, landing softly on the mattress because her legs couldn’t hold her weight anymore. She drinks in the sight in front of her as he takes off the unbuttoned shirt, revealing all the hard lines and bumps of his muscles, accented into a deeper shade by the moonlight flowing through the slits of her bedroom curtain.

“Are you sure?” he whispers as his eyes pierce through her many levels.

“Yeah”, she whispers back, and she gets up to take off her dress, revealing herself in her favorite lingerie while she looks up at him amidst the pool of clothing around them. He draws in a deep breath and the warm feeling between her legs grow as his eyes raked hungrily on her. She takes one of his hands and places them over her breasts, the action eliciting a moan from both of them.

“Take it off, babe”, she whispers to him, her voice husky and he obliges with both hands as he finds the clasps behind, unlatching them with shaking fingers and he lets them fall. Her tits were peaky from the cold air around them but it doesn’t matter anymore as he bends his head down to capture one of her nipples, biting them down softly and soothes it with the warm moisture of his saliva, causing to moan aloud.

She falls to the bed again, but this time she drags him along with her as she opens her legs to allow him to press himself into her, his hard length explicit against hers despite the layers of clothes he still has on.

“Your pants, take them off”, she groans, her voice begging with need, as he continues to lip and nick at her breasts. Her hands travel down to help him out of his jeans and she uses her legs to push it off him. Once free of his constraint, she pushes her hand into his boxers and grabs his hardening cock, making him groan as he makes his way onto her neck, leaving her skin hot and cold at the same time.

She definitely doesn’t know how he’s this good despite the amnesia, how he knows where to kiss and bite, but then again, maybe it was all muscle memory. And having amnesia does not prevent him from exploring his manhood of course, and it was likely Reggie that had introduced him to porn again, because it was all the in the _bro-code_.

She couldn’t control herself anymore so she pushes him over and straddles herself on him, pressing down on his erection, as she dives down onto his neck, working her way down to his chest before moving back up to his mouth, leaving a trail of glistening saliva on his chest. Their tongues collides together this time, a ferocious fight yet a glorious dance as they lick, swipe and suck inside their connected mouths, the kisses getting sloppier and involving more teeth as she grinds down on him. He sucks on her bottom lip and that sends her unravelling as she pulls away ferociously, leaving him bewildered as she pulls of his boxers and her underwear in a quick succession.

He waits with anticipated breath as she hovers above him, one hand on his chest for leverage, and another going down to where their bodies just meet, his eyes following the movement as her finger slips into her core to gather the wetness before coming back to circle her clit.

“Babe”, Archie groans, his hand on her hips as his cocks twitches desperately.

“Tell me what you want, babe”, she teases him sultrily by grabbing his length and rubs the head against her clit, the leaking liquid from the tip adding to the sensation that spreads throughout her body makes her wonder whether she was the one teasing.

“You. I want you”, he groans, and that was all she needs as she sinks herself onto him.

Her walls expands to accommodate his size, and the feeling spreads throughout her body on many levels, as it sets her skin on fire, sends her blood boiling, and rattles her nerves screaming with pleasure as she starts to rock herself on him, her mouth open in silent delight. She picks up her pace once the familiarity settles, his cock perfectly in shape inside her as it has been way _too_ long without it. Placing both hands on his chest for leverage, she swivels, swings and bounces while keeping her unwavering eye contact with the boy beneath her, his eyes wide and his lips pressed together to stop himself from making noises. His hands tightens its grip on her ass as she starts to grind against him, and she bends down to slide her tongue into his mouth. She slows down her pace as one of her hip bones spasm to a reason she doesn’t know, but yelps aloud as Archie starts to thrust into her, his speed increasing and his plea clear and desperate she knows, so she sits up and meets with his thrusts as she resumes rocking above him, her ass bouncing and gripped so vehemently by his strong hands, the movement causing the room to echo with the skin on skin sound along with their breathy pants and her incoherent words of encouragement as he slams into her.

“Oh, Archie, yes”, she moans as softly as she can, and she can feel her walls starting to clench and she quickly moves her hand down to circle her clit, the action making Archie sit up and bury his face in between her breasts like as if he wanted to delve deep into her heart as their bodies rock together, their skin sticking from the sweat and the heat. And honestly, she could, no, she would open up her chest and let him sink into her, let him take her heart and claim it for himself because there was no else, not one single person in this damned world that could make her do that except him.

She comes while still moving atop him, her mouth connected with his, falling into a blissful oblivion as her nerves explode earth-shattering from the clenching of her walls around his throbbing cock, and it doesn’t take long for to follow her as he spills into her, groaning into her mouth as she swipes inside with her tongue the last time before lifting herself off and collapsing next to him, panting heavily as she watches some his cum dribbles down the insides of her thighs. Thank god that she was still having her pills despite her non-existent sex life before tonight, but it had become a habit that she didn’t really bothered to get rid of.

“So that’s sex”, Archie says after a moment, their heavy  breathing the only source of sound in the silent room as he goes on with the next two words in between his breath, “Fucking _incredible_.”

“More like incredible _fucking_ ”, she corrects him and continues, “I didn’t know you were this good, have you been practicing?”

He chuckles, wiping the sweat from his forehead, “No, I guess it’s just muscle memory.”

They burst into fits hits of silent hysterical laughter as she snuggles her way into the place between his neck and chin, the place where she so loved to bury her nose in when she sleeps, the place where she used to silently cry on during desperate times, the place where she nips and kiss every time after they’ve had sex.

The place where she calls home.

 

***

 

Double dates became a normal occurrence again, and the next two days passes without much event except Archie and Jughead competing over a burger while Veronica and Betty cheered on at Pop’s, or the morning where Archie was grounded by his mother for not returning home the second time in a row, as he had crashed (and had sex for the second time) at Veronica’s.

“Does this mean we can’t have sex anymore?” he mumbles dejectedly, but his face was lit up with humor as he laid sprawled on his living room couch.

She giggles as she ruffles his hair playfully, “Maybe. Is it that bad?”

“We can’t do it here, the walls are too thin”, he groans and he reaches up to flatten down his hair.

She reaches over to ruffle it again, preferring it in its messy state but he catches her hand and pulls her with surprising strength, lifting her out of her crossed leg position to straddle him as he cups her face and kisses her.

“Your mom is here as well”, she whispers against his lips, his breath hot and heavy on her lips, “If it was only your dad we could’ve done it.”

He breaks the kiss, frowning with disgust, “Dad knows we have sex?”

“Probably, we’ve tried to be quiet most of the times, but he’s your dad, Archiekins, of course he’d know when you’d hit puberty”, she replies and resumes to kiss him, opening his mouth with her tongue.

“Oh, god, I can’t hold back”, he says in between kisses and she knows it, because she can feel him straining against his pants.

“We can take it the garage, it’s soundproof”, she says as he makes her way down her neck and bites her in the right spot, causing her to moan aloud.

He brings his head back up, “God, yes, I forgot.”

She looks down at the sudden lust flaring in his eyes, and it probably was reflecting her’s as well as she smiles deviously at him. He stands up with her in his arms and carries her silently into the backyard, and her eyes were on his glistening lips the whole time as he lays her on another couch, this time in the garage room as his hands travel down to her shorts.

 

***

 

She wakes up feeling weirdly disoriented, and she takes a while to adjust as the sunlight streamed through the small windows on the ceiling, the dust illuminated before she realizes she was in Archie’s garage. As her mind slowly reels in, events from last night come back to her; his hands, his mouth, his tongue, his arms, and his hands again. She smiles to herself as she lifts the blue blanket off her bare body and smells it, reveling in the sensation that drags her down a trip to memory lane. She gets up, stretches her sore body from the amount of times they had sex, and searches for her clothes in a discarded pile of cotton, wool, and nylon as she remembers the way all of it was ripped from her body crazily. Archie wasn’t in the room; she guessed he went up to take a shower before he’d come down and sneaked her past the house, the way he planned as he told her last night.

She sits down on the couch, fully dressed and lays her head back, thinking about how life was so shit just last week, and how amazing it seems now. Life has a happy ending after all, because she never thought it would, with everything that had happened in her life. And it makes her think that how she’d bared through all of it, the many times she thought she wouldn’t. She knew she was wishing for the better times, and maybe knowing that the better times would come eventually gets her up and walking every time she fell down on her knees. Life would definitely get better, it would always no matter how much it seems to keep on sucking, no doubt about. A page would be over. A chapter would finish. A book would end.

Lost in her thoughts, she hadn’t realized 15 minutes had already passed and she jumps as her phone rings suddenly. She grabs it to see Fred calling her, and she wonders what and why the hell he would be calling her at 11 in the morning, but nevertheless, something she hasn’t felt in a while settles in her stomach again as she tries to ignore on wondering why Archie was taking so long.

“Hello”, she answers getting up from the couch

“Veronica?” Fred says, his voice soft and unperceivable, and she can’t make out his face from his tone.

“Yes, is everything alright, Mr. Andrews?” she asks tentatively.

He sighs through the crackle of the phone, “It’s Archie, he slipped in the bathroom and lost consciousness with a concussion. He’s alright, though, sleeping at the hospital. Thought you’d might want to see him.”

“Definitely, I’m coming”, she replies and hangs up, her phone slipping from her grasp and hits the floor the same time as her shaking knees does.

“Fuck, fuck”, she mutters desperately

She tries her best to steady her breathing, but she can’t, and she knows she’s hyperventilating, panic that had risen in her chest shooting up as she shifts her back against the couch, leaning her head back on the soft mattress. Her breath was hitching, and it was getting harder as her heart bangs wildly in her chest, but she shuts her eyes as tight as she could, ignoring the pain on her cheekbones and directs all her willpower to focus on Archie’s fingers that had travelled across her skin last night. His lips as they make their way exploring parts of her body. His strands of hair tickling her face as he caresses her in his strong arms.

The person in question and the person she used to calm her panic attack was alright, so she doesn’t know why the fuck she was panicking as she swallows back her tears and her breathing calms down. She stands up quickly once she’s sure her breathing rate has fallen down to the normal rate, and her heart was beating in its perfect pace. She runs outside and gets into her car parked a block away from the Andrew’s house as she jams the key with fumbling fingers and starts the car, trying not to drive too recklessly as she makes her way hurriedly to the hospital. She parks right in front of the entrance and she knows she’s going to get a ticket for it, but she can’t care as she makes her way into the reception area, asking for Archie Andrews.

“Room 247, down that corridor”, the receptionist replies and she hurries to the indicated corridor after muttering a quick thank-you. She runs down the corridor fasting than her beating heart, which was starting to pick up its pace again her eyes scans the room numbers, reaching 247 just before the end of the corridor. She holds her breath and pushes it open, bracing herself and it so takes her back two weeks ago when she opened a similar door, bracing herself as well. But she was preparing herself for something last time, so she doesn’t know why she’s holding baited breath for, despite Fred saying that his son was alright.

Fred turns around, and her head nearly explodes because she can’t understand why in the world he’d be smiling so bright and would envelope her in a hug. She awkwardly stands there with her arm hanging in a semi hug as she looks over at the bed where an awake Archie was talking to the same doctor from two weeks ago, and Mary Andrews stroking her son’s hair with a wide grin on her tear-streaked face.

“Mr. Andrews, what happened?” she asks confusingly as the old man breaks the hug.

“He’s back.”

“What?”

“He’s back, the memories. The amnesia is gone, and it seems like the concussion triggered it all back”, he says happily, his voice quivering from happiness.

“I –”

She was interrupted by a soft voice, a tender hesitant tone as her eyes moves to locate the source.

 

“Veronica?” Archie whispers barely enough for her to hear.

 

It wasn’t like last time when he said her name, it wasn’t tinged with curiosity, or it wasn’t bright or chirped with content happiness. It just sounded like _why_ , except it also sounds battered and hurt. But it was familiar still. He sounds like he used to, like the night she let him go.

“Archie”, she says because she doesn’t know what else to say.

 

“What are you doing here?” he asks softly because he wants to know, she realizes, but it stings her painfully nevertheless as she swallows hard.

 

“Y-You don’t remember?”

 

“I-I do. But after the car crash, the accident –”

 

“You don’t remember anything after the crash?” she repeats, and his face confirms it for her as it all comes crashing down on her again, her heart dropping to the floor, her stomach flips and her ears blocked with the blood gushing into it. Her hands clenched into a fist as she also realizes something else.

 

He wasn’t _meant_ for her. The universe was clear with that. It had been fucking with her all along.

 

She wasn’t forgiven.

 

She poured it all out, begging to be forgiven, begging for God or anything responsible for how life goes on to understand her.

 

But she was punished instead

 

Into thinking that it’d all be alright, that life has a happy ending. That she was at no wrong.

 

But of course she was.

And seriously, who was she kidding as she lets the tears fall from her face silently, her vision blurring from the clogging up of the salty water in her eyes and the painful spasm in her unnaturally hollow chest, to think that it’d all end gracefully and peacefully.

 

There was no peace.

 

She doesn’t feel her own body as she turns around stumbling out of the room, her ears not registering her name being called.

 

There was no happiness.

 

The drive back to the Pembrooke was a blur, and she wipes her eyes hurriedly as she makes her way into the house, the only place she could call home, or even if that’s what it is. The only place she can cry and storm in its solace.

 

She makes her in, but only to find it in chaos.

 

Her mind temporarily clears, and her vision sharpens as she sees her father throwing stuff haphazardly into boxes, with her mother helping and Andre carrying the boxes outside.

“Daddy, what’s going on?” she asks, her eyes scanning the room hurriedly and she realizes they’re packing.

“We’re moving, _mija_ ”, her father answers curtly, taping a cardboard box carelessly and throws it over to Andre.

“W-why?”

Her father stands up straight, his eyes boring into her’s, sighing, “Kowalski’s released all my SoDale info. We’re moving off the grid before someone or the FBI could come.”

“You’re planning something with SoDale as well?”

“Yes, _mija_ , I’m sorry, but we have to hurry – wait, _as well_?” he frowns as his eyes glint dangerously.

Her bottom lips quiver as she decides to confess, God knows why, but since everything’s fucked, why not fuck it up more. She feels daring as she says, “I knew what you were doing with the Serpents, Daddy. I told Jughead about it all.”

Hiram stands amidst the boxes, his face unreadable but his lips were as thin as a line as he stares at her unblinkingly. Hermione was frozen in the act of putting picture frames in a small shoe box, her mouth hanging open.

Hiram starts to laugh, his voice chuckling uncharacteristically as he shakes his head, bending down to resume his work, “You know, Veronica, I suspected it for a while. Just never thought that you’d say it with your mouth.”

“I had to do it.”

“I know, _mija_ ”, Hiram sighs again, “We have our different versions of the right and wrong.”

“It was wrong, daddy, to put Jughead’s and the Serpent’s life in jeopardy!” she yells, her body screaming of frustration, her head aches from the realization that he still called her _mija_.

“And was I wrong just because I wanted to protect my family?” he answers coldly, clearly trying to keep in emotions but vents it by kicking the boxes out of his way.

Her hands are shaking and she’s crying again, tears silently falling down her cheeks, but not of heartbreak of losing Archie all over again, not from the pain of being betrayed by her father, but from anger. Anger at everything. Pure, blinding rage that consumes every fiber of her being, her vision going red as how everything is just so fucked, how everything was just so bright and beautiful and how it all came crashing down like a roller coaster destined to burn and decay, to fall it off its track into hell, and how it all turns dark, dead, and desolate.

“Not at the cost of other people’s lives”, she spits as venomously as she could.

He laughs dejectedly, “Veronica, _mija_ , you still don’t understand what family means. One day, you’ll learn, when you have your own children to take care of. You’ll learn that you’ll go to any lengths to keep them from harm, even if it means taking other people’s lives.”

“And what about the child? Let him live with the knowledge that he’s breathing just because someone died for him?”

 

“Everybody wants to live”, he shrugs, and it sends such a wave of disgust crawling over her skin that she wants to double over and vomit.

 

“ _Nobody_ wants to die either”, she says, this time her voice barely audible, but clear and sound for her father, who recoils at her words.

 

Hermione interrupts, “Okay, the argument is over. Ronnie, go get your stuff, we have to hurry –”

“No.”

“What?”

“I said, no, Mom. I’m not coming with you. I’m not going anywhere with Daddy”, she tells her mother, whose face was now starkly white.

“ _Mija,_ you can’t –”

Veronica chokes out her last words, her possible last words to her parents, before storming outside the god forsaken house, “I’ve had _enough_.”

“Veronica, come back here right now. You are not of age and I –”

Her mother’s words were cut short as she slammed the door closed on her way out, tears still falling from face and into the wind as she flies down the step of the Pembrooke. She gets into her car, jamming the key into the ignition just like how she did half an hour ago, not registering. She reverses out of the parking space, and drives. She just drives. And that’s the good thing about driving, she thinks. A distraction, because it needs her attention to focus on the road ahead of her, to diminish her swirling thoughts, to prevent her from thinking by assigning her an almost-like routine of driving. It works, but she’s still crying. An emotional wreck spilling tears like a waterfall in an automobile that seems to be driving rather than her, her shaking feet on the pedestal and her cold hands gripping the steering wheel like as if it was just a constant allowance and permission for the car to move on, to head to nowhere in particular. She doesn’t have a destination in mind, but she’s driving. She’s just running all over again, she’s escaping.

And she will, and no one shall drag her back into this town’s clutches.

She’s driven for so long that the sun was starting to set, the early starts popping up in the smoldering sky, and she’s taken multiple U-turns so that she doesn’t end up in a roadblock or a place she doesn’t to be. She doesn’t know whether she’s out of Riverdale yet, and despite trying to escape, it seems like she’s driving in circles and she bursts out laughing at her valiant effort 6 hours ago, where she was so confident that she could leave just like that, without a well concocted plan that would blow the universe of its feet. So she decides to stop somewhere closest to her, because the fuel was running low and she needs to stretch her legs. She spots a bar on the other side of the road that she doesn’t quite register it properly, and she drives ahead, trying to find a U-turn. And just her luck, she does.

 

And just her luck again, she’s ended up at the White Wyrm.

 

Circles.

 

She wasn’t going anywhere.

 

 

But she will. She’s going to break the damn circle with her own bare hands.

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As I’ve said, Archie still has to get his memories back, and he does.  
> Just in a bad way.  
> Sorry, Ronnie.
> 
> And sorry this took a while, world cup has been keeping me busy and other stuff as well.
> 
> Thank you x100000 for your comments and supports as always to those who stick around, and if you’re new and you like this, please leave a kudos and tell me what you think, and hope you’ll stick around as well!  
> Song at the beginning is Berenstein by the Band CAMINO and ofc, Hooked On A Feeling by Blue Swede.
> 
> And find me on tumblr @theravenhairedprince and next time, people!


	9. Chapter 9

_Our eyes were never closing_

_Hearts were never broken_

_Time’s forever frozen still_

 

 

Archie swings his stiff legs from the bed and gets up despite his mother insisting him to sit back down. His head hurts tremendously as his hands goes up to rub the pain, but twitches it away instantly as the pain intensifies at the contact.

“ _Fuck_ ”, he mutters, and his mother was probably going to reprimand him for cussing but he can’t care right now, he doesn’t want to as the neurons in his head fires around and he slowly yet mundanely catches up with the surrounding, his brain processing the last thing he remembers after the crash.

The last thing he has remembered.

A pain spasms across his head like lightning across his nerves as a blinding blur of tree and steel flashes against his closed eyelids, and a raven-haired girl appears before everything went black.

Kind of ironic, isn’t it, the last thing he’s remembered is none other than Veronica Lodge.

He opens his eyes, gasping for breath, his throat somewhat constricted. Frustration runs through him like the blood coursing through his veins.

He has had amnesia for a good two weeks, almost three, according to the doctor and he can’t remember for the sake of his life why, anything that had happened during the amnesia. It’s like as if someone else was using his body while he slumbered, leaving only a blank frustrated space. It’s like as if a part of his life has been taken, minute in terms of time but in terms of events that could’ve happened? A _fucking_ lot it must be, considering Veronica had just come to see him when she shouldn’t and ran away when he told her he can’t remember anything after the car crash.

He groans out exasperatedly at his incapacity to remember, and partly at Veronica running away from his incapacity to do so. He doesn’t know what to do, doesn’t know what to say, and curses himself for not running after her, and it might as well be the second time he’d let her go.

A _second_ time.

_Fuck_

His breathing was not slowing down as his mind replays the events from the night, her beautiful tear-streaked face and her golden skin disappearing as she got into a car and sped off, leaving him stranded, lost, and alone.

Because that’s what he feels like now, amongst the many other emotions swirling in him.

Stranded. Lost. Alone.

He feels a hand slide up his shoulder and turns around to find his father soothing him, and so he revels in the calm sensation that spreads as his father slowly guides him to sit, and sit he does, burying his face in both his hands, his calloused fingers pressing his forehead as he sighs deeply into his palms. His breathing quivers and he feels like vomiting but he doesn’t.

The car crash.

Despite his father’s wishes against driving too late, he didn’t care that night he crashed, because he found Veronica would be coming back to Riverdale through her Instagram stories (he used another account, because he didn’t want her to think he was still pining for her). And just like every desperate ex-boyfriend, he set out to the airport, hoping he could get a glimpse of her where it would not spark an awkward conversation, and so he did. He remembers it vividly, it was all like the first night he met her, except that they weren’t at Pop’s and she wasn’t donning her entrancing cape. But she walked with her grace as she came out from the luggage area, more like floating, and everything slowed down like usual as he looked in on her from behind a pillar, achieving nothing but the tranquility that runs through his veins at the magnificent sight and probably a weird look by the airport security guard as well. But it was a mistake, he had realized as he got into his car to head back home. True, her presence was so powerful that it made him forget everything temporarily, all the worries and regrets, but it also made him forget that she wasn’t his anymore. And that was stuck in his head the whole ride back home, like some un-ridable plague planted in his mind, his mouth grimaced as tears pooled in his eyes. Then, a squeaky burst and the car spiraled out of control, or he must’ve given up control as well, he doesn’t remember. But he passed out thinking about her, he remembers, as he laid sprawled in a broken machine, mouth tasting like metal trying desperately to remember her face and the feel of her lips one last time.

“What happened, Dad?” he chokes, opening his eyes.    

“You had amnesia, Archie”, his father replies, his voice soft and soothing.

Archie shakes his head profusely, “No, I mean with Ronnie. Why was she here?”

His father doesn’t answer, leaving the question hanging in the silence of the room.

“Dad?”

Fred sighs heavily, taking his hands off Archie’s shoulders, “When you woke up after the accident, you could not remember anything. But Veronica came and you remembered her.”

“I remembered everything about her only?” he frowns.

“No, you only remembered her name. But it was vital, as the doctor said, it could’ve been the last vestiges of your memories clinging on to you. So Veronica was asked to spend time with you, in hopes that it could help.”

“And she-she agreed?”

His father chuckles, “Of course.”

“So I got my memories back because of her?”

The doctor who had been silent for most of the time, then intervenes, “She might’ve played a part, we don’t know for sure yet, but it was the concussion you had obtained this morning, after you slipped in the bathroom. It must’ve triggered the amygdala to recalibrate with your hypothalamus, which is the center of all emotions and memories”

His head spasms again from the overuse of biological terms, “S-so I’m fine now?”

“Well, yes, you are in perfect condition right now, Mr. Andrews. But the next few weeks might be a little hard for you as your brain would try to accept the other memories made, during the amnesia. You weren’t another person, if that’s what you think. More like, your body was sleepwalking, but do not worry a lot. It will all come back eventually.”

“Yeah, that’s sounds nice. Thank you, doctor”, he mumbles. The doctor smiles and leaves the room, the door snapping shut.

His head spasms again and his ears starts to ring strangely, picking up the sound of the snapping door and Veronica’s concerned face flashes unceremoniously against his eyes.

“Gaah”, he groans as the flashback was over as suddenly as it started.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay, honey”, his mother comes to sit down on his other side, rubbing his head softly.

“Something’s bugging me”, he sighs frustratingly, “Did something happened between me and Ronnie?”

“Well, since she was asked to spend time with you”, Fred says, continues after a pause, “I really am not sure to what exactly happened, but –”

“Fred”, Mary cuts him warningly.

“What, what happened?” Archie asks urgently, his stomach dropping out of fear and anticipation.

His father grimaces as he delivers the news, “You guys, um, got back together. Reconnected.”

_Reconnected? What the fuck’s that supposed to mean?_

It felt like someone punched his gut, but in a really bad way. Totally bad. He stands up stumbling as the pain blooms through his chest and invades the rest of his body like a virus. It’s like as if the blow hits him on many levels, contracting the muscles of his heart and stinging his eyes, sending goosebumps covering his skin and his blood starts to chill. But he doesn’t understand why he’s feeling all like this. He wants Veronica to come back, he wants them to get back together. And so they did, even if he was deep down in the crevices of his murky brain, slumbering. Things must’ve been spoken, feelings confessed, and forgiveness given, because he knows Veronica. She wouldn’t leave things unspoken. She has to make the person understand, and he must’ve.

But why does it still hurt so much?

“God, no, no. _No_ ”, he chokes, his hand clutching his contracting chest and tears fall from his eyes hopelessly, “What did I _do_?”

He barely hears his mother coming to pick him up, hands soothing his back as she talks to his father, “I told you, Fred. It wasn’t a good idea at all!”

“What was not a good idea?” his father asks angrily.

“Letting him get back with the Lodge girl! She dumped him for god’s sake!”

Archie cries out desperately, his shoulders shaking, “No, no, no, she didn’t. I did. I let her go. _Again_.”

“Honey, no, you did not”, Mary turns to him, her voice sweet and honey, but it all sounded foreign and strange to him.

“You see, Mary?” his father points out, “You don’t know what it was like between. I was there, I knew what it was between them!”

“That doesn’t make any sense, Fred!” Mary argues, “He was having amnesia as you so well know, he needed to recover! He didn’t need a girlfriend!”

“But that’s the point! Mary, you weren’t there. You weren’t there when he woke up after the accident. You didn’t see his face”, his father explained as his voice started to quiver. Archie looks up just in time to witness a tear fall from his father’s face.

“Our boy was scared and frail”, his dad goes on, “He had no one when he woke up, because he couldn’t remember anything. But his face changed when he found out I was his father, Jughead was his friend, and we promised him that we’d help him. He knew he wasn’t alone in this and he was smiling, and I was so, so relieved. But when Veronica’s around him? I don’t remember ever seeing a happier face of my son.”

Archie swallows as his father goes on and his mother was listening, crying but listening as well.

“That’s what I see every time when he’s around her. And I see that she’s happy as well. They had what we once had”, Fred says, swallowing hard before continuing, “And is it wrong for him to take Veronica’s love when she always willingly gives it to him? You know that he needed it.”

 

 _She always willingly gives it to him_.

 

That was all it took for him to stand up.

 

“Dad, can I take the car?” his voice quivering.

“Son, no, you can’t drive yet”, his father blanches.

“Dad, _please_ ”, Archie begs, “You understand me, right?”

Fred remains impassive, a clear battle torn in his head as he decides. Soon after, he nods and pulls him into a long hug before handing the keys, ignoring Mary’s protests as he says, “Drive safely, please, son.”

“I will, Dad. Thank you”, he says and turns to his mother, “I’ll be back, Mom, I promise, I’ll be back.”

“Son, go get your phone as well, it’s on the counter of the kitchen back at home!” his father calls after him.

 

He nods in reply and without another word, he turns and sprints out of the room, flashing through the corridor and flies through the reception area, startling many nurses. He finds his dad’s truck parked at the end of the parking lot, good as new, and runs to it, unlocking the door hurriedly and jamming the key to start. He knows he’s going to be careful this time as he reverses out of the parking lot, and drives with only one goal in his mind: to find Veronica.

The maple trees on either his side turn into a blur as he sped across the road back to his home, his mind on par with the truck’s speed. Emotions jumbled, feelings mixed as he goes on over what his father had said, And from the gist of everything, he knows he’s had the talk with her. Somehow, everything was forgiven, and possibly, forgotten. How? What had they talked about? What did she say? What did _he_ say?

His mind doesn’t bother to answer him, or it doesn’t know the answer like he does as he pulls up in front of his house. He gets out and runs up the steps, opening the door after unlocking it with the key hidden under the third pot plant from the window. As he stumbles into the kitchen, his head spasms, his vision swims, and his legs gives away once again.

“No, no, not now”, he cries desperately as his knees hits the floor, the pain jolting through his knee caps nothing compared to the one in his head.

The force makes him keel over as he surrenders to his mind, and the blurry vision was replaced by the face a raven haired girl again, this time she was in his arms and her bright doe eyes were fixed on his as he was carrying her somewhere. As sudden as it happened, it was over and he pulls away from the flashback with a gasp, leaning back against the doorway of the kitchen as he tried to calm his breath, everything slowly returning to normal pace and his vision clears. His shirt was clingy, and he realizes he was sweating profusely as he makes his way to the counter to snatch up his phone to find it frustratingly low on battery, and despairingly no messages or miss calls. He unlocks and scrolls down to find Veronica’s contact, pressing dial. The line doesn’t even beep but sends the call into voicemail, and he knows her phone is dead. But he leaves a message nevertheless.

“Ronnie, please call me back. I need to talk you, please. Tell me where you are, wherever you went, whenever you want. But at least please, reach out, Ronnie. It’s Archie, if you don’t know, if you had my contact deleted or something I –”

He starts to choke and he hangs up the voicemail because that’s all he could say for now, his head still spinning and his heart still in pain. He drinks some water and makes sure again that he’s calmed down, checking himself in the mirror before heading out to drive again.

Archie Andrews looks back at him, and he looks the same as ever, despite being a little worn and thinner around his heaving chest, sporting a tired flushed face as well. And he can’t quite comprehend how he had ended up having sex with his ex despite the amnesia and looking like absolute all type of shit. Shaking his head from how bizarre it all seems, he heads out, locking the door and makes his way to the car, fishing out his phone to keep it on the dashboard. He stares blankly ahead, his hands on the vibrating steering wheel as he decides on where Veronica would likely be.

The Pembrooke.

The only desolate place she could be, the only place he knows where she’ll be burying her face in her pillows as she cries, because that’s how he finds her every time he’s gotten an urgent three words message from her during the dead hours of the night.

So he shifts out of park and heads towards the Pembrooke, making sure to stop by Pop’s in case she was there as well. A minute later that was filled with nothing but the quiet rumbling of the engine working to take him to his destination, he reaches Pop’s and slows down as he enters the parking lot. His eyes quickly scans the restaurant through the big windows abide of their usual screens as it was already late in the afternoon. He finds no familiar faces, but he feels another nausea wave take over him, and he pulls the hand brake before allowing him to succumb to the pain blooming in his head, shutting his eyes tight as his vision goes black to give way for the flashback like a cinema screen.

He was sitting in a booth at Pop’s, and she was sitting across him this time, her smiling chapped lips wrapped around a straw as her eyes crinkle and her raven hair shining from the light spilling onto their table, her manicured eyebrows raised high as her shoulders shake from laughter. His heart feels buoyant, and he feels his mouth was stretched into a grin.

He involuntarily gasps and was pulled out of the flashback instantly, much like the sensation of surfacing suddenly from under water. He feels the smile on his face drop, the floating feeling in his chest evaporating and it all leaves him feeling more downtrodden than ever, as he pushes the brake and drives on, this time pressing the pedal harder as he heads to the Pembrooke.

Archie reaches the grandeur house five minutes later, and it still looked eerie as ever as he parks right in front of the steps. The place never felt like home despite the nights he spent with her, the times he sat on the living room couch on Sunday nights watching Game of Thrones with Veronica, or the morning weekend hours as she tutored him away on his weaker subjects.

It was never the place, he guessed. It was Veronica that made him feel like it was, and now that he was making his way into the house without her or without the knowledge whether she’s present in the building, it feels foreign once he’s entered the peculiarly empty lobby.

Once again, a pain spasms across his head and he finds the nearest support he could, grasping the mahogany table before allowing himself to temporarily black out as he finds himself making his way through the staircase with Veronica leading the way, her beautiful petite figure hugged in an expensive looking dress, and her hips swaying in a hypnotizing movement as she walks up the steps. A low burning feeling was smoldering away in his stomach and his legs were jittery from anticipation, and suddenly, he finds himself being pushed against the door of her bedroom, his back hitting the cold wooden surface.

Archie opens his eyes as he lands on the floor, somehow losing his grip on the table as his back hits the tiled floor painfully. He lets of a frustrated sigh as he gets up clumsily, cursing the building up in his pants from the flashback. God, how _many_ times had they done it?

His head storming, he makes his way to the elevator and jabs the button labelled “Penthouse” forcefully. He slides out before the elevator door could fully open, and finds himself heading to the living room, which he notices was oddly empty. Certain decorations were missing from the tables and stools, walls blank without some of the picture frames, and Hiram’s office doors were wide open. He peeks inside to find it more deprived of its furniture than the living room

“Veronica?” he calls out as he looks around.

A head pokes itself out from one of the couches facing fireplace, which was already dying, its embers glowing softly. For one heart stopping moment, he thought it was Veronica as he registers the black hair, but realizes it was too sleek and straight as Hermione turns to face him.

“Archie? What are you doing here?” Hermione asks him, her pencil eyebrows contorted to a frown.

“Mrs. Lodge, what happened?” he asks her, his hands indicating the surrounding.

She shrugs, “Hiram moved.”

“ _What?_ Why?”

“Shady business got exploited and he’s ran before he can’t”, she replies grimly, “But you haven’t answered my question, Archie.”

“Oh”, he swallows, “I’m looking for Veronica. She hasn’t gone with her father, has she?”

Hermione’s face remains impassively blank, and he fears the worst that Veronica has actually went with her father. His chest spasms and he feels his heart starts to crumble as the silent treatment from Hermione drones on, confirming it for him. He looks down as his eyes start to sting from the realization that chasing her with her father by her side is probably impossible as Hiram could’ve already moved out of the grid.

“She didn’t go with her father.”

“What?” He looks up, astounded.

Hermione repeats, “She ran away, but she didn’t go with her father. To be honest, I thought after all these years she would, but she’s grown.”

“What do you mean?” he asks, his brain _pulsing_ from how confused he is.

“Oh yes, of course you wouldn’t know”, she nods, “You see, Veronica despises her father’s business.”

“I know that”, he says.

‘You do?” Hermione looks taken back, “She’s told you?”

Archie stutters, “No – I mean yeah, partly, but I also know it because I was –”

“Which Archie am I talking to?”

“Sorry?” he blanches in confusion

Hermione’s eyes widen with realization as something her brain could only follow, because he’s lost as fuck as to where she’s heading, “You got rid of the amnesia, right?”

“Oh, yes. Yeah, yeah, the amnesia is gone”, he replies with relief, finally understanding.

“That’s good news, Archie, I’m happy for you”, she says, smiling at him with a one that doesn’t quite reach her eyes.

He feels bile rise up his throat as he replies, “Nothing’s good come out after people found out the amnesia’s gone.”

“What do you mean?” it was Hermione’s turn to be at lost as she asks him.

He explains, “Veronica came in to see me and bolted when she found out I couldn’t remember anything after the car crash. That’s why I’m looking for her.”

“No wonder why she was already vexed when she came in”, she says shaking her head.

“Do you know where she went?”

“I don’t know, Archie, but don’t bother looking for her, she’s going to come back here eventually. Veronica’s the type who can’t escape”, she tells him.

Archie recoils from disgust as he spits out angrily and loudly, “So that’s why you’re here? Waiting for her to come back instead of looking for her? How do you know she’d come back this time?”

“Lower your voice please, Archie. And yes, I’m staying in Riverdale for her.”

“You haven’t answered the other question, Mrs. Lodge. How’d you know she’d come back this time?”

Hermione shrugs, “As I said, she isn’t the type of person to run away, dear.”

“But what if she could, this time?” Archie says, taking a step forward to where Hermione was perched on the couch like an eyeful vulture, “She has nothing to keep her from going, has she? She’s lost her father, and she thinks she’s lost me as well. What is going to stop her from running away now?”

“Maybe you, Archie, I don’t know. But it’s kind of ironic you’re saying all that, considering I’m still sitting here”, Hermione snaps. He notices the tone of her voice growing louder, and he realizes her eyes were glinting from anger.

He takes a calm breath, trying to steady himself before continuing in his I’m-trying-to-be-polite tone, “I know you’re still here, but does Veronica know?” he pauses for beat to let the blow fall, feeling satisfaction coursing through him as Hermione’s lips grew thinner, “Listen, I just need you to tell me where you’d think she went, Mrs. Lodge, that’s all I’m asking for. Then I’ll leave you in peace.”

Hermione doesn’t say anything, and her faces switches to its signature poker face, one she usually wears when she’s with Hiram. She’s pondering on his response, he can tell. He sees it in her eyes, and no matter how cold and calculating they can be sometimes, he knows it because he sees it in the contrastingly different doe eyes of Veronica as well. After all, she was her daughter, and the Lodges are the same in the foundations, as Hiram had once told him.

His girlfriend’s (ex? definitely) mother sighs loudly, and says, “Well, she might’ve gone to Sweetwater River. There’s a wide spread of a bank if you drive on Sweetwater Rd, a path leading to it will –”

“ – On my right, yes”, Archie finishes it for her.

Hermione nods, “It’s a spot she goes to often, before she went to Venice. Has she told you about it?”

“No, I told her about it. But we haven’t gone together since –”

He stops abruptly as his head spasms horribly, feeling like one of his nerves exploded which rattles his vision and sending him into blackness, before he sees himself walking into the mentioned bank with Veronica, a roll of blanket tucked under his arms.

He pulls himself away from the vision aggressively, the sensation much like pulling the drain plug in a full bathtub. He surfaces from the pool of jumbled memories gasping as the room swims in front of him before it steadies, Hermione’s face coming back into focus.

“Archie, are you okay?” she asks, not too convincingly concerned.

“I-I’m fine. Thank you, Mrs. Lodge, I have to go now”, he replies and he makes his way to the elevator, stumbling from the aftershocks of the flashback. He blindly presses the button for the elevator, silently nursing his right temple as the machine rumbles to carry its passenger down. He gets out, walks straight to the car and starts the engine. He doesn’t shift out of park as he realizes his knuckles were growing white from how hard he was gripping the steering wheel. Shuddering as he takes a deep breath, he wills himself to calm down by focusing all of his willpower on Veronica only. But that’s where it all overlaps, because the person he’s using to calm down is also the cause that he’s panicking. And, hasn’t it always been like this? Veronica Lodge, the order and chaos of his small little life?

Shaking his head reflexively, he drives to the mentioned bank at Sweetwater River. He hasn’t thought of the place much, despite being the one to tell Veronica about it, despite taking her there once to see the sunset. But she had complained about the abundance of mosquitos quietly as the sun went down that day, and he thought she didn’t like the place naturally, so he never took her there again.

Knowing that it’s become her solitude place for her to go after they’ve broken up, it pains him once he’s realized how negligent he’s been. To be honest, he doesn’t even know she’d go there. True, the sunsets were nice and beautiful, and maybe it was one of the things she was clinging to, if what his father said about her was true, that she still wanted to be with him, that she wanted to give him love.

He taps his fingers in a quiet rhythm on the steering wheel as he drives on, the world slowly turning orange around him, and the silence punctured by the chirping of birds perched along the towering maple trees on either side of him turned into a green blur as he sped across Sweetwater Road. He slows down as he spots the path and turns sharply into the path, the sudden change of direction jolting the contents of his stomach.

As he reaches the open clearing, an overwhelming pain overtakes his head before he can scan the clearing for any presence of Veronica, so powerful that his body seemed to blanch from it. He slams on the brake and blindly shifts to park as he allows the pain to blossom through him, succumbing to the spilling mixture of emotions and memories by shutting his eyes tight. A flashback washes his vision, and it was clearer than ever before. He lets himself lose this time, releasing his grip on the steering wheel, the one connecting him to the physical world as he sinks into the memories made without his knowledge.

_The orange streaks were gone from the sky now, he notices. It was getting colder as well and he looks down just in time to see Veronica pull her knees to her chest and wrap it with her arms as she says, “I broke up with you two days later, at the White Wyrm where we were supposed to sing for FP’s return to the Serpents. Guiltiness, shame, and disgust is what I felt. I felt guilty because I didn’t want to accept my feelings for you, not knowing where it could lead. I felt ashamed because I couldn’t give you back what you gave, I couldn’t reciprocate. I felt disgust at how I thought I’d be okay with it, how I thought that we could still be in a relationship without exchanging the three words ever.”_

_“The problem was that I was never okay with it. It was the most regretting life decision I’ve ever met, if you don’t count snorting coke when you’re drunk” she says, and he laughs at the small banter made by her, despite the sadness that was building up inside him from the words of the raven-haired girl bedside him._

_She continues, “But, it all went to shit. Without you, everything was incomplete, that force of goodness and light in my life diminished. I tried so, so hard, Archie, to move past all of it, but I couldn’t. And the month after we broke up, you got into a relationship with Sammy, and I thought you moved on. Me? I was still stuck at the place I left you at. So I found some other ways to distract myself. I didn’t want to resort to drinking or drugs, but I kept myself busy. Dug into some of my father’s suspicious activities with the Southside, and helped Jughead exposed him. It did work, but once all of it was over, I was back where I was. In that dark, depressing shell of my solitude. Venice didn’t even help a bit.”_

_He asks her before she can go on, her last words confusing him, “Why did you even go there when you felt alone? I mean, Betty and Jughead were still your friends, right?”_

_She sighs before answering him, “They were, Arch, and maybe that was the solution all along. To be with people that I care for. But my emotions blinded me, I thought, you know, third wheeling while hanging out Jughead and Betty would just make reminiscent about you even more, so I chose to run away. But I’m lying when I’m saying Venice didn’t help. It didn’t help me get over you, though, I don’t think anything would. But it helped me understand what I was feeling, and accept what I was feeling, the time I spent meditating in the early sunrise and late sunsets of the city.”_

_His heart was beating faster in his chest, and the anticipation he feels flowing through his skin was to the tipping point as he asks, “What was it that you felt?”_

_She blows out a long breath and remains silent for a while. He doesn’t know whether she’s going to brush the question aside or perhaps, answer him. Her face remained impassive, but her eyes were sad. He perks up as she answers suddenly, “Heartbreak, Archie. That is what I felt and understood. I also understood that heartbreak only comes when you’ve fallen in love as well. Having fallen in love with is what I accepted.”_

_It’s quite unbelievable that she can’t hear his heart banging loudly in his chest. And it’s also quite unbelievable that this girl had fallen in love with him. A gust of wind ruffles his hair and blows away the strand he’s been meaning to swipe away but was too preoccupied with Veronica’s words. As incomprehensible as it seems to him, he knows she’s just poured out her heart with those words, and despite having had known her for just two weeks, he’s sure he’d never find a girl like her. So he remains silent and listens attentively as she spoke on._

_“The realization was so painful, heart-wrenching that I couldn’t bear it anymore, you know? I had let go of something so precious and rare. And I had to come back here, booked an early flight because I couldn’t stand it anymore, and maybe I thought seeing you one more time could save me from the oblivion I was falling into,” her voice was quivering, and he sees tears fall helplessly from her cheeks._

_“I’m sorry, Archie. I was scared. So, so scared of falling in love with you, never realizing I already did. It was new to me, everything was so overwhelming, I couldn’t breathe. It was too good, everything with you, and it just made me think whether all of it was a drug, you know? Way too good to be real. But I never knew it was something pure and holy. Something humane and natural. I was so incompetent at it all, Archie.”_

_She falls silent then, wiping her tears with the back of her hand and sniffing quietly. He turns away and looks over the tree tops, the sun already long gone but the clouds were in beautiful shade from the shadows casted by the dying streams of orange sunlight, turning the sky into a Van Gogh-like painting. His mind was racing now that he knows the truth. Despite what he had assumed, she wasn’t the type to only give love. She was the type that needed it as well, and it took her time to realize that, he finds out. And now that he knows, he’s going to be the one to give it all to her, no matter what._

_“Are you still in love with me?” he asks her, because he at least needs to know that._

_She shrugs, “Honestly, I don’t know, Archie. I want to say that I am, but I feel like I don’t deserve to say anything.”_

_“Why not?” he asks her, frowning._

_“I broke your heart, Archie. I threw you away. Do you think I still deserve you?” she asks him then, laughing watery._

_“But it was a mistake, wasn’t it?” he asks her, frustration building inside of him_

_“It was”, she nods._

_And it was something inside him, he doesn’t know what, but he lets it go as he says, “Mistakes happens all the time, Veronica. And I don’t think yours was a mistake, either. You were right to push me away. You felt insecure about your feelings, you weren’t sure about us and that’s not wrong. It’s not wrong to think about yourself first in a relationship. It’s not wrong to make your feelings the first priority, we’re not forced to be in a relationship. We choose to. And just as much, we can choose to leave if we want. And after all this, if you think I’m going to blame you for a single thing, Veronica, you’re wrong. You just needed time, and I should’ve given it to you before you had to ask. Heartbreak? I don’t think you broke my heart. I think I broke my own heart, for not chasing you, for giving you up so easily. And I don’t know, really, whether I have a say for the old Archie, but I don’t think he was ever angry at you, let alone he never blamed you, Veronica. I think we might be both at faults when we broke up.”_

_She speaks up, “Archie, I –”_

_He cuts her, “I’ll say this, Veronica. I forgive you, if you still think you did something wrong. There’s no way, not in a million years, that every version of me in every damn universe would not forgive you, or would not love you back.”_

_And he knows it’s true, despite the amnesia and everything. Despite not knowing anything the previous Archie would, despite not having enough experience and knowledge about love. But what does it matter in a sense? He’s still Archie Andrews, he still has his habits like his father said, he’s still impulsive like his mother told him, he’s still funny and caring like Betty pointed out, and he’s still goofy and dumb like Jughead joked. And he’s still the guy Veronica’s fallen in love with._

_She remains silent and he takes it as the confirmation to go on, “Maybe you’re right, you know, about me being a lover. I just met you like two weeks ago, and I’m so attracted towards you. I don’t know, maybe I’m not in love with you mentally yet, but my body, my hands, feels like it’s always longing for more of your touch, it leaves me hanging in an oblivion as well, so weak and desperate for something that belongs to it. And when I kissed you that night, everything fell into place”, he says to her, his voice begging her to understand._

_She starts to cry and Archie thinks whether he’s said the right things but the worry fades away as she says, “Archie, I’m so sorry.”_

_“I’m sorry too, Ronnie”, he says._

_She starts, “You don’t have to be sorry for –”_

_“No, I am. Guess we’re all sorry for each other”, he says, chuckling._

_“Yeah, guess we are. But all is forgiven?” she asks._

_He makes a light joke, laughing, “You haven’t said you forgive me yet.”_

_His heart jolts out of its fast pace as she reaches her hands out to cup his face and kiss him, everything falling to place as he had said. The softness, the warmth, the moisture and the sharp intake of breath she takes as she kisses him, everything, everything and every single moment of it was blissful. He feels her rest her forehead on his as she breaks apart, her bright doe eyes piercing his soul as the world around them darkens._

_“I’d always forgive you, Archie”, she whispers._

_And those were the words, maybe, the words the previous him had asked for a million of years ago, as he closes the space between them once more._

He probably surfaced from under the water this time, considering his hair was plastered on his forehead and his shirt was very clingy from the sweat. He straightens up in the compact truck seat from the uncomfortable sprawled position he had been in while unconscious, breathing heavily and wiping his face abate of tears and sweat, all while realizing the world has darkened considerably since he was last in it. He doesn’t know how long he’s passed and doesn’t bother to check the time on the dashboard because all he has in his mind was Veronica’s words on repeat as he opens the door and stumbles outside.

 

_I felt guilty because I didn’t want to accept my feelings for you._

 

He breathes in the evening air full of oxygen and he already knows she isn’t there. He looks around the empty bank nevertheless, relieving in the dying warm light and silent tranquility the flowing water gives him, but it couldn’t overpower the foreboding sensation growing in him.

 

_I felt ashamed because I couldn’t give you back what you gave me, I couldn’t reciprocate._

 

“Veronica!” he calls out, knowing full it was completely pointless, but he still calls her name out again. And again. And again. And again.

But he knows she isn’t here.

 

_I felt disgust at how I thought I’d be okay with it, how I thought that we could still be in a relationship without exchanging the three words ever._

He falls to the ground, his knees hitting the muddy floor that softened the impact as he sinks slightly into it. He was crying, full on crying as the tears spilled from his eyes relentless, falling onto the already wet ground.

 

_Heartbreak, Archie. That is what I felt and understood. I also understood that heartbreak only comes when you’ve fallen in love as well. Having fallen in love with is what I accepted._

Shoulder shaking uncontrollably as he cried on, not to the fact that Veronica’s in love with him, or the fact that she’s accepted her love. Not to what amnesia Archie had said either, even though they were pretty much what he wanted to say a long time ago.

 

 He’s crying because he feels heartbreak all over again.                    

 

He’s crying because he’s out of places to look for her. Riverdale was a small town, and he doesn’t believe Hermione’s words. Veronica could leave for good, and she would. She could have already.

 

And she still might be here, lingering in the town somewhere, but he can’t bother himself to get up and look for her anymore. He’s in too much pain to be let down again. He’s too broken to let disappointment run through once he’s reached the destination he’s assumed she’d be in but she won’t.

 

He’s already accepted defeat for now.

 

“Fuck!” he screams loudly, “Fuck! Fuck! Fucking hell!”

 

His arms flailed around as he beats the mud with his bare hands repeatedly, savoring in the pain that spreads from his knuckles up to his elbows, adding to all the pain he’s experiencing.

 

And so he sits there as the world continues to darken, his hands closed in fists that repeatedly slams against the mud that had done nothing wrong until he’s run out of tears to cry and he’s grown accustomed to the pain. His hands are sore and dirty, knuckles bleeding lightly but he doesn’t care. All he knows is she’s gone, and she’ll do her best to not be found.

A foreign sound echoes through the silence of the clearing. It was his phone ringing, he realizes, the tone musical amongst the steady flow of the river in front of him and the occasional chirping of birds surrounding him. Wiping his eyes and nose, he gets up and makes his way to the truck, opens the door and grabs the phone with anticipation. Jughead’s name was on the display, and he tries to ignore the slight disappointment he feels as he answers the call with mud caked fingers.

“Archie, where are you?” Jughead says as soon as he picked up, his voice crackling through the phone

“Sweetwater. Why?” he replies, trying to mask his quivering voice with feigned cluelessness.

“What are you doing at Sweetwater at this time?”

“Looking for Veronica”, he answers. There was an awkward pause, and Archie doesn’t know whether Jughead’s waiting for an explanation or he had some plans with Archie and now that he’s busy he keeps quiet.

“What’s up?” Archie says.

 Jughead doesn’t reply instantly but says, “Veronica’s here at the Wyrm.”

“What?”

The floor started to give away, but he focuses intensely at the voice coming through his phone.

“She’s at the Wyrm, and she’s going to leave.”

He inhales sharply, running a hand through his hair frustratingly as he gets into he car haphazardly, “Jug, keep her there, buy her a drink –”

“I bought her like 5 drinks but she refused because she doesn’t want to get drunk if she’s going to drive. But I’m doing my best to stall her, Arch, you know how she gets.”

“I’m on my way”, he says as he starts the engine.

“Hurry.”

And with that, Jughead cuts the line before Archie could, so he throws the phone onto the passenger seat, shifts out of park and reverses quickly out of the clearing. It could’ve been like the scenes of Fast and Furious as he reverses onto the street, tires squeaking and smoke probably bellowing when he makes a sudden turn. Veronica was still here for certain, and he trusts Jughead to keep her at bay for as long as possible. So he throws all caution to the wind, because nothing, _nothing_ right now matters more to him than to get to her. Nothing like one more chance he has been given. He presses down the pedal hard and accelerates over 90, positively sure he’d get a ticket but he can’t care as he reaches the bridge leading to the Southside of the town.

It was dark now and there were the glittering early stars strewn across the partially cloud covered sky as he exits the Northside, but the air he could negligibly pick smelled like it was going to rain soon, and it made sense since the Southside was covered in blankets of clouds like an upside-down snow covered plain. After a long silent drive, he spots the bar lit by the green neon on the other side of the street and heads on to the U-turn he knows well. He rounds the truck without waiting, achieving a blast of horn from a braking car, and again, he doesn’t care as he turns into the White Wyrm’s parking lot and slows down to a stop.

 

Happiness. Familiarity. Warmth. Peace. The place where it all ended.

 

Heartbreak. Suffering. Loneliness. Tears. The place where it all started.

 

It had started to rain lightly as he makes his way to the bar and he spots a Firebird parked right in front of the entrance, silently throwing a triumphant fist.

The bar door opens and out comes Veronica walking with her head down. He stops right in his tracks and she’s got into the rain, still not noticing him and he thinks she’s probably oblivious to the dark, wet world around her. Her raven hair starts to glisten from the downpour that seemed to be getting heavier. A sudden thunderclap rumbles across the sky and it makes her look up and spot him.

Her eyes were wide and bright, the mascara smudged around the edges tells him she’s been crying and her bee stung lips were the exact same as he remembers. She doesn’t seem too surprised to see him, but she stops walking nevertheless, observing him with quivering lips as the rain runs down her beautiful face.

"Archie.”

Her voice was minute amidst the rain and thunder they were standing in as the world continue to spin beneath their feet, oblivious to the problems of the two souls in the many millions were dealing with.

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all, I would like to apologize for disappearing for a good two weeks without letting you guys know. Here goes on my excuse which you won’t probably give a shit but yeah, I was studying for my university’s entrance exam which is coming up on 4th and was also adapting to the change of time since I’m back home. And I suck at managing time as well.
> 
> And yeah, an Archie POV! The conversation was mostly repeated just there between Ronnie and him, and I know you guys might’ve got bored but I hope you beared through it, it was all through the eyes of amnesia Archie. And our usual Archie remembering everything Veronica’s said and done as well! Now the real talk awaits!
> 
> Thank you for the continuous support as always, your comments always light up my day! <3
> 
> Song in the beginning was Photograph by Ed Sheeran and find me on tumblr @theravenhairedprince in case I don’t update within a week or you need some memes to lighten up your day lol.
> 
> See you soon!


	10. Chapter 10

_Oh, I hope someday I'll make it out of here  
Even if it takes all night or a hundred years_

Veronica can’t believe she’s ended up here. Out of all the places in this damned town.

White _fucking_ Wyrm.

It’s like as if it’s fate for her, to end up where it all started. Fuck fate, really. Fuck the universe, or whatever is in charge of getting her to her destinations.

But she parks the car nevertheless. She’s low on fuel, and she’s sure the Serpents have some stocked in the bar, in case their members run out of fuel. And she needs a drink to extinguish the storm in her brain. A bottle of anything to nurse the pain coursing through her veins.

And then she’s going to get the fuck out of here, breaking through if it needs be.

She gets into the bar just as the last streak of orange completely disappeared from the skky, pushing her way through the thick mulled crowd of booze-smelled Serpents. Toni looks up from wiping a glass with a filthy rag as she reached the bar.

“Veronica!” Toni greets her enthusiastically, throwing aside the cloth she was holding. She reaches over to pull Veronica into a semi hug as the counter was in their way.

“Toni, hey”, she says feebly, patting the vivacious girl on her back.

Toni pulls back instantly, and observes her with concerned eyes, “Girl, what happened to yo u? You need a drink?”

“That I would like. As to what happened, it’s complicated”, she says, shrugging as she takes her seat.

Toni nods and turns around to whisk her a glass of whiskey, setting it quick and neat in front of her before asking, “So, my hunch tells me that complicated things for you usually involve Archie Andrews.”

She swallows the whiskey she’s been mulling around in her mouth, savoring the burning sensation that spreads at the back of her throat, “Am I that easy to read?”

“Oh. I’m so sorry, V. What happened?”

“It’s just –” but she cuts off because she doesn’t know what to say. _I ran away from my boyfriend because he’s recovered from the amnesia which is supposed to be good news but he doesn’t remember anything that had happened during the amnesia and I can’t just think of saying everything to him again._

“Hey, it’s okay. If you don’t want to talk about it yet, then don’t”, Toni says, taking her hand into hers and patting it softly, “But if you want to, I’ll be there to listen, I promise. But I’ll give you some space for now.”

She sighs in reply, “Oh, thank you, Toni, you’re wonderful.”

“Hey, that’s what friends are for”, she chuckles, “I’ll be around.”

And she departs to the other side with a wink, serving up the other Serpents.

Veronica looks down at the drink slowly swirling in the glass clutched so tight by her hands that she feels the bones under skin jutting against the thick material. Her mind was on par with the swirling drink, a mild storm as she looks in on blankly, until a question pops up in her head.

_Why did she run?_

Her lips quiver as she takes in a shuddering breath, trying hard not to cry, but it was to no avail as the tears spilled on relentlessly.

_Everything._

It was everything. It was Archie. It was her father. It was herself.

His freckled face, his fiery red hair. His melodious voice, his calloused hands. His eager eyes, and his soft lips.

Veronica poured her damn heart out in the words she confessed to him that day, and the prospect of repeating all of it to him again never sounded so terrifying in her life. She’s let her guards down multiple times, but to completely let it down that she’s just bare and naked emotionally? She did it once, and no, she can’t do that again. She’s too scared, too frail. And what with her father had just done, it all adds up to the hesitation growing every second inside her

But what’s the matter if she tells him everything again?

Archie Andrews is back, that’s the matter. The Archie Andrews she saw when she walked in Pop’s that fateful night. The Archie Andrews she forbiddingly kissed in the dimly lit closet at the party. The Archie Andrews she cheered on during his football games with her pom-poms. The Archie Andrews she helped find his courage playing the guitar in front of everyone, singing the song he wrote with his hands and experience from the past. The Archie Andrews she slept, had, and done almost everything with. The Archie Andrews she so recklessly fell in love with.

And that’s the problem. He has all the memories, he has all the experience. He has all the pain, he has cried all the tears, and has probably spent many sleepless night because of her. She saw it in his eyes when she saw him this morning, it was clear and it was in pain. He won’t accept what she says as easily as amnesia Archie did. He’ll be reluctant, he’ll be careful, and he’ll be cautious. And at the fact that he hasn’t run after her when she’s left? It already confirms to her that he wasn’t ready yet, that he still despises her.

She wipes the tears hurriedly, and gulps down the rest of drink. Setting down the glass a little too hard, she’s overcome by a new urge to run. The sudden rush of adrenaline, and the prickling of her skin, and the tingling in her feet, she wants to run now. Run as fast as she can and not turn back. Run as fast as she can and ignore everything. Run as fast as she can, eyes shut tight.

Come to think of it, she was already planning to, so she looks down at the empty glass, wondering whether the drink has reinforced her reckless ideas. As tempting as it was, she does not ask for another one because she needs to drive. And she needs fuel, so she calls for Toni.

“I need some fuel, Toni”, she says as the girl came up to her.

Toni frowns with humor, “What, isn’t it the drink strong enough?”

She laughs slightly, even though she doesn’t find it funny when she usually would, “No, I ran low on my car, and I need to get home.”

“Okay dokey then, I’ll get them, they’re at the basement”, Toni nods, smiling at her before heading off to said basement, leaving Veronica alone at the counter clutching an empty glass.

Her mind remains impassively blank (she tries not to think) as she wait for what feels like forever, until a familiar voice pops up behind her.

“Well, well, look who it is. Veronica Cecelia Lodge.”

She turns around to find Jughead standing with a slight swag in his pose behind her, his beanie absent and his locks of stranded black hair falling over his eyes, similar to the night she found him after she came back from Venice. Funny how everything still seemed to be moving in a circle.

“Forsythe Pendleton Jones the Third”, she replies, because she just can’t resist annoying him with his full name, but her tone was betraying her slightly.

He chuckles lightly as he takes a seat next to her, reaching over the counter to grab a bottle of something she doesn’t quite register, or probably she didn’t even bothered to.

“So what brings you here to this place so far from your comfort confined home, Mrs. Lodge?” he asks her mockingly after he’s taken a sip of his drink.

“I don’t know”, she replies curtly, and she doesn’t know why her tone’s changed full tilt all of a sudden.

Jug looks taken back, “Woah, Archie’s done something again?”

She knew he was joking, but it was all it took for her tears to resume its tracks. But her face remained blank as the tears poured on silently because she doesn’t want to completely break down, no, not here, not in public because she could never. She would never break down in front of other people because that would she won’t be the Veronica Lodge in their eyes anymore, just a little teenage girl with her troublesome woes, so she forces her face to remain impassive, tries to make it look like she’s just brooding, indifferent to all the pain and heartache she feels throughout her body. But she lets the tears fall as she looks ahead in front of her, her stare dead and fixing, blurred by the hot, angry tears.

“Hey, Lodge, shh, you okay?” Jughead blurts as he notices her tears and gets up to clumsily and awkwardly pat her on the back.

She doesn’t answer him as she swallows hard and tries to force her tears back as well, but her breathing was getting shallower and faster.

“It’s okay, hey, shh”, he says when she remained silent, and passes her a tissue which she takes gratefully.

He remains silent as he sits back down until she’s wiped her eyes cleaned and her breathing slows down until she’s just hiccupping slightly.

“Archie’s got his memories back”, she says.

“Oh, is that good news, then?” he asks her cautiously, his blue eyes concerned and watching for her reaction.

She shakes her head, “He got his memories back, but he doesn’t remember anything when he had the amnesia, nothing –”

She stops as her throat clogs, choking her to silence as she shuts her eyes tight to force back the tears again, but the pain was brutal. Like a disease or some unearthly plague that invades her body everywhere, and on many layers of being Veronica Lodge.

 

It hurts her name, because she was the one to fall in love with him.

 

It hurts her body, because of all the lingering feeling of his fingers and lips she still feels on her skin.

 

It hurts her fingers, because she can now barely remember how soft and silky his hair was, how hard the muscles under his skin were.

 

It hurts her lungs, constricted she feels as it knows his air so well.

 

It hurts her heart, because it used to beat for him.

 

It fucking hurts.

 

So, so bad

 

“I’m sorry, Veronica”, Jughead says, and she barely hears it with all the blood rushing in her ears.

“Do you need me to do anything?”

She takes a deep breath, and looks up at the dingy ceiling where the crap speakers were playing Sam Smith’s Pray.

She might as well be praying that she’s making the right choice running as she turns around to face Jughead.

“Jug, I need you to do me a favor”, she asks him.

“Name it, Lodge”, he says, paying her attention to show that he’s willing to do as she asks.

“I’m going away.”

“Wait, why –”

She raises a hand to stop him, his face pale and confused, “Listen, I’ll keep it short. My parents are no longer here, because Kowalski exposed my dad’s SoDale project and now they’re running. And I’m not going with them.”

“And I don’t think I can confess everything again to A-Archie”, she continues.

He nods slowly, “I understand, Ronnie. So what are you going to do? Get away for a while? Road trip?”

“I don’t know, maybe I’ll get away temporarily”, she shrugs, “But if it works, I’ll start anew somewhere”.

“Start anew? Veronica, I know you need time, but you know Archie’s waiting for you. And what about me and Betty?”

She snaps, “No he’s not!”

“How many times do I –”

“You don’t know, Jug! I saw him this morning and I know he despises me! I saw it in his eyes!” she nearly shouts back.

He doesn’t argue, because the other Serpents were starting to look at them.

‘And Betty and you will get married and live happily ever after and forget about me. So why bother about me and Archie anyways?” she hisses at him before she’s realized what she’d said out of anger.

His eyes glint and he frowns as he whispers, “You didn’t mean that.”

“I-I’m sorry, Jug –”

“It’s not about you and Archie, Veronica. It’s about you”, he says softly, that makes her look at his piercing blue eyes.

“I’m going to be worried about you, you’re going to be alone out there”, Jug continues.

She waves a hand, “I’ll be alright, I can take care of myself.”

“I know that, but –”

She interrupts him again, this time her tone begging him to understand, “I get the concern, Jug, I do, I swear. But you understand me, right? I need some time right now. You owe me.”

Jughead doesn’t say anything as the silence between them drone on, and she can tell that there was a battle torn in his head as he weighed in his decisions.

“Fine”, he says, throwing his hands up in mock surrender, “What do you want me to do? Look for hotspots to visit?”

She chuckles lightly, “No. You already did I want. You’re not stopping me from going.”

He snorts, “Oh, right?”

An awkward silence befalls them then, and she wonders why Toni was taking so long.

“So what are you waiting for?” he asks.

“Toni’s fetching some fuel for me”, she tells him.

He nods, “Oh, the fuel in the basement is finish, I think. She’ll probably bring some from the warehouse.”

“Will it take long?”

“Nah, five minutes ride. Let me get you a drink till then”, he says.

She shakes her head, “I need to drive, Jug.”

He pretends to look shock as he says aghast, “Are you declining a Faderade?”

“Oh, if it’s a Faderade, then I’ll have it.”

He smiles at her as he fishes out a glass and begins to pour in the respective ingredients until he stops and looks around confusingly.

“What happened?” she asks him.

He mutters, “The Gatorade’s at the back, give me a sec.”

And he goes to get the mentioned drink at the back cellar where they store the stock.

She waits for him, and Toni as well as she drums her finger on the counter, trying not to think too much of Archie, so she ends up thinking about leaving.

The prospect of leaving is just as terrifying as confessing everything to Archie again, but it was also strangely exciting, igniting a low burn in her lower stomach. The uncertainty of running away, the thrill of escaping, and the experience and memories she could get and make.

If only Archie was running with her.

She looks up as Toni approaches her with a gallon of green liquid which she sets in front of her.

“Well, there you go”, she says and spots the half made glass, “Who’s making the drink?”

“Thanks, T. And Jughead was making the drink”, she says, taking the gallon and weighing it.

Toni goes behind the counter, “Where is he?”

“He went to get the Gatorade from the back”, she replies as she sets down the gallon, after she’s sure it’s more than enough for now.

“Oh, but there’s multiple Gatorades here, did he not see?” Toni says.

Veronica jerks up to look at the Gatorade Toni’s holding up to show her, and her eyes flick to Jughead who’s just come out of the back and stops at the scene.

“Jug, you cheeky son of a bitch”, she says to him as she catches up. She grabs the gallon quickly, and sets for the exit, ignoring Toni calling her and Jughead pleading her to wait.

She’s out of the bar before she knows it, and she’s hit by a sudden wave of frigid cold wind and icy gushes of rain that sends her skin prickling and shivering. It was raining heavier by each second, the visibility getting poorer but she doesn’t care as she makes her way blindly towards her car, head bowed down to avoid water in her eyes.

A thunder rumbles across the sky loudly, but it wasn’t it that made her look up. It was something foreign that she picked, something that wasn’t the aurora of the fresh earth, or the metallic scent of thunder. Maybe it wasn’t even a smell, because she was sure it was impossible to pick one in such a condition, but a feeling that prickles the back of her neck, making her look up ahead.

 

He was rain soaked, the vibrant red hair now a dim color plastered to his forehead as water drips ominously from his sharp jaw, and his shirt was clinging to his figure.

 

“Archie.”

 

Her voice was minute amidst the rain and the storm that continued to rage on, on this blue planet, oblivious to the problems of its tiny insignificant inhabitants.

Archie moves closer to her, his Converse splashing through the puddles and she was root to the spot, like as if a current had rendered her unmovable.  He looks over her shoulder and nods, making her turn around and spot Jughead standing near the entrance, rain plastering his raven hair as well.

Another thunder rumbles, this time accompanied by a flash of lightning that momentarily lights up Archie’s face, and pain is what she registers in the short window, but his eyes were bright and brown, even in the cold, darkness they were surrounded with.

 

“Veronica”, he says.

 

She doesn’t why Jughead would do this. He already knows she can’t talk, she can’t say everything again and he knows Archie has a chance to be reluctant, to be arrogant. And a right to be angry as well.

“What do you want, Archie?” she asks feebly.

“I need to talk, Ronnie”, he says loudly, because the rain was getting heavier and louder.

It was cold as the water had made their way to almost over every part of her body, and it all adds to the pain she’s already feeling. She just wants to leave.

“There’s nothing to talk about”, her voice was starting to quiver as she pushes him out of the way and walks to her car.

And then it hit her so hard, much harder than this storm ever did when she’s gotten out of the bar, much harder than the revelation at Archie‘s recovery ever could.

 

She just pushed him away in the same place again

 

Her fingers curls inwards and her hands are closed in a fist as she continues to walk to her car.

 

Only last time, she wished, oh, wished he would’ve chased her, prove her words wrong, and tell her she can love.

 

She still wishes he would

 

So she hears footsteps splash behind her as strong clammy hands enclosed around her wrist and pulls her around.

 

“Us. That’s what we need to talk about, what had happened these past two weeks”, he says.

 

She pulls her arm out of his grip but her body’s betraying as it gives in to his touch. But she wasn’t going to allow it to feel more pain, more heartbreaks, “What’s the point? You remember nothing of it, there’s only the memories of me breaking us in you, Archie!”

She doesn’t feel the tears trailing down her cheeks, maybe because of all the rain that continues to fall relentlessly, but his hand reaches her face and wipes away something hot and wet with his calloused thumb that causes her skin to scream in longing, as he looks at her with bright, wet eyes.

 

“That’s the point, Ronnie. I remember.”

 

It’s like everything zones out as the words reaches her. The sound of the rain, the rumbling of the sky and the whistling of the wind disappears as blood gushes in her ear. The dark sky, the green neon of the bar and on pouring water blurs as she focuses on the boy in front of her.

 

“I-I, Archie –”

 

“Veronica, you don’t have to say anything, I remember”, he pleads, and she wonders why because she can’t go anywhere anyways, not when he has her in a trance, “Just please, listen to what I have to say.”

 

And so she listens, listens as attentively as she ever could because she quite can’t believe her ears.

 

He’s remembered.

 

Her words.

 

Her confession.

 

_Everything._

 

And now all she needs to do is hear him out.

 

His hands drop to her waist and pulls her close and secure like as if the strong winds could blow her away. But, no, it was laughable because nothing could ever take her away because she _has_ to listen.

 

“I was scared like you, Ronnie”, he says, “But I was scared in a different way. I know why you didn’t say those words, I know you were scared of losing me if you’d said too much. I was scared of losing you if I didn’t say enough. That’s why I said those words. I had to take a leap of faith, and it was selfish of me that I left you alone when you weren’t ready to jump yet. I wanted you so bad, wanted you to be mine and forever after, but I didn’t know whether you wanted ‘forever’ as well, and I was stupid enough to not pay attention. I thought, maybe saying those words, you know, could seal it for us. But it was only me.”

 

“I’m sorry about the way I acted after you couldn’t say those words, Ronnie. The leap alone is always painful, and it was my ego that was bruised. I threw shade after shade, made you uncomfortable when I should’ve just given you time. It was me that pushed you away, Ronnie. I know I’ve probably said this, but it’s only natural to feel insecure about a relationship. And it’s all I’ve want to said. I don’t blame you at all, Veronica.”

 

The rain’s slowing down, but her tears are not. But it was also different tears, she realized. It wasn’t hot, angry tears. It was, more of relieved. She could say happy as well, but she doesn’t want to overstretch it yet as she listened on, clinging to every word he’s saying.

 

“I should’ve chased you, should’ve run after you. But I let you go to easily. I was hurt, and I was scared. But I also didn’t realized I hurt myself more by not getting you back. And if all that business with Sammy made you think I moved on, no, I never did. I’m still where you found me and where you left me, Ronnie”, he says, tears falling down his face as well, “I don’t know what else to say as well.”

 

“Oh, Archie, there’s nothing else to say. I’m so sorry”, she cries, and that’s all she can muster as she caressed his face and wipes his tear.

 

“Me too. I love you, Veronica.”

 

“I love you too, Archie.”

 

The sky rumbles again, and it may have taken months, and maybe a thousand years too, but she knows she’s going to say the words eventually, to someone, somewhere, at some time. And here she was, looking up at the man she loves so much it hurts.

 

They still have wounds to tend, she knows. Fractures in their relationship to cover, she’s aware.

 

They’re not the same people either. They can’t be, not after what both of them have gone through. And neither can their relationship be as it was.

 

But they’ll get through it together. They always do.

 

She pulls him in and kisses him as the rain continue to pour around them, his minty breath amongst the soil scent she smells as she breathes it in, lips covering and tongues touching. The familiarity comes crashing down in a wave of pure ecstasy as always, like something returned to where it rightfully belongs. But there was something different with it as well. It wasn’t a “Hi, hello” kiss. Neither a “hey, I miss you so much” kiss. Definitely not an “I need you kiss”. It was, transcendental. Words cannot be used, but there was a sense of finality in it. No, not as in the final kiss, but something so grounding and an impaling finality that it felt like a contract and if possible it would say “this kiss seals the relationship, and it shall never break”. He pulls away and rests his forehead on hers like he did at Sweetwater, his eyes her lighthouse in the world covered in darkness.

 

She feels buoyant, despite the world around her being grim and wet.

 

She hears the sounds of heaven, despite the heavy rainfall splashing around them.

 

And she sees vivid color, despite the world being blanketed in a veil of complete darkness.

 

Kissing in the rain was never on her bucket-list, it was one of the wishes of those cheesy girls she wasn’t a part of. But maybe it should’ve been, a long time ago. It definitely should’ve.

 

But come to think of it, as he pulls her into an embrace and she makes her way into the crook of neck that was and is her home, it doesn’t really matter where they kiss. It could’ve been at the bottom of the hell, it could’ve been high up in the Gardens of Eden, it could’ve deep down under the oceans, it could’ve been in outer space. It could’ve been during the middle of a war, and it could’ve been anything, anywhere.

 

And honestly, it would still be the same. It would still leave her breathless, mind-blown and always craving for more.

 

And as long as Archie Andrew’s with her, her heart warm and content for now, she’ll be alright.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter's a bit short but what a journey it has been! It’s over and no, I’m not crying. Chapter 11 would be the epilogue but, listen on.
> 
> Originally, I wanted this story to end completely but there was something off and so much more about it that I didn’t want to leave it. And yes, that’s why I left Varchie with wounds and fractures to heal later. So yeah it was originally planned for 10 chapters with completely fixed Varchie and an epilogue where they’re is happy and thriving, but no I can’t drop the angst.
> 
> So yes, there is a sequel to Love to remember! Archie and Ronnie will be older, definitely in university and everything. Might be wondering where the angst comes in?
> 
> Kowalski hasn’t forgot what Hiram has done, and he’s not dropping it. 
> 
> The sequel will test Varchie’s relationship to the limits, and that’s what I have planned.
> 
> But if I’m not going with the sequel, I’ll come back and put something for the epilogue.
> 
> See, the thing is, I have other AUs and ideas for Varchie that are already half written and everything, so the sequel won’t come soon (because its vaguely planned at the moment)! 
> 
> But do stick around @theravenhairedprince on tumblr if you wanna see some sneak peek or look at my dank memes!
> 
> And as always thank you for your support and comments, they’re incredible and they always make me smile, gives me the necessary energy to put forward these chapters for you all! I love y’all and hope to see in my other works to come!
> 
> Song in the beginning is Lovely by Billie Ellish ft. Khalid!


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